


Back in Stars Hollow

by delightfulalot



Series: What Sam Says [2]
Category: Gilmore Girls
Genre: F/F, F/M, Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2003-06-14
Updated: 2005-07-04
Packaged: 2018-02-03 05:45:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 26,761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1733270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/delightfulalot/pseuds/delightfulalot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>sequel to What Sam Says; Rory and Lorelai rekindle their relationship, Jess and rory continue theirs, and Luke and Lorelai start one.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Arriving

**Author's Note:**

> the major character death doesn't happen until the very end of the story, don't worry!

"Lorelai doesn't know I'm coming?" Jess asked for what had to be the ten thousandth time since Rory had hung up with her mother.

"For the last time, that's right. She has absolutely no idea." Rory stopped walking to kiss Jess softly on the lips. "It's going to be a wonderful surprise."

"Not all surprises are wonderful," Jess said cynically.

"This one will be. I promise." Rory kissed Jess again, and then started to walk toward baggage claim. Jess grabbed her sleeve and pulled her back.

"Mmm. Kiss me one more time, and I'll be ready."

"Glad to oblige," Rory grinned.

\--

"Lorelai, she's only five months pregnant." Luke started for the fiftieth time since Lorelai had bought the tiny little wardrobe of baby clothes twenty minutes ago.

"Shush. The baby doesn't know that."

"Okay, first of all, the baby's not here, seeing as it hasn't been born yet, and Rory isn't even around, and second of all,  _she's only five months pregnant_!"

"Don't yell at me!"

"Don't tell me not to yell at you!"

"I can do however I please!"

"Lorelai!"

"Luke!"

"Mom!" Rory called. Both Lorelai and Luke turned, Lorelai with a huge grin on her face, and Luke with the glare left over from the yelling match he'd gotten into…with Lorelai…in the middle of a crowded airport. Luke glared at Lorelai again, this time over the fact that she'd made him embarrass himself. Jess walked over to his uncle as the girls hugged and squealed over the baby clothes.

"Lorelai make you make a fool of yourself again?" Jess asked, recognizing the glare on his uncle's face.

"Yes. God, she's just  _so_  annoying sometimes."

"The Gilmore girls are good at making the men who love them make fools of themselves."

"I don't… _love_  her," Luke protested, forcing the word "love" from his mouth as if he'd never heard it before.

"Oh, sure. I don't love Rory either. I just followed her all the way across the country 'cause I like her kisses. Oh, and did I mention she's pregnant? With what is definitely another man's baby?"

"But I  _don't_  love Lorelai. I've never even kissed her."

"Right." Jess groaned disgustedly. "When did we move into a soap opera?"

"About the minute you fell in love with Rory."

"And we got renewed for another couple of years when she met her spy boyfriend."

"And then another year when you both decided you loved each other at the same time. And you decided to move back here."

"Yep." Jess nodded. "We have no place to live."

"Why are you so cheerful, then?"

"Like I said, I like her kisses."

"Luke!" Lorelai squealed, running back over to him and Jess with Rory. "Jess is back!"

"Thanks, Lorelai. I hadn't noticed that when we had an entire conversation about how he was back."

Lorelai frowned. "You don't have to be so sarcastic."

"Hello, pot? This is Lorelai. You're black," Rory said. Lorelai frowned more.

"Why are you all ganging up on me?"

"It's so easy to make fun of you," Rory grinned.

"I agree." Luke nodded.

"Jess!" Lorelai yelled, pulling on Jess' arm as she noticed he was quiet. "You still like me, right?"

"Of course, Ms. Gilmore."

Lorelai dropped his arm and pushed him away. "You're annoying."

Jess grinned as he was pushed into Rory and put his arm around her. They grinned at each other like idiots, causing Lorelai to sigh and start complaining to Luke.

"They're gangin' up on us, Luke. They're getting all lovey-dovey."

"Yeah, I know. It's sickening."

"Yet somehow sweet."

"Nope, just sickening."

"Come on, lovebirds, let's get back to Stars Hollow." Lorelai grabbed one of Rory's arms and one of Jess' arms and started pulling them towards the exit with her. Luke shook his head and followed.

\--

When Luke drove them all back into Stars Hollow, he invited Jess and Rory in to the diner for dinner. Jess wanted to refuse, because they'd eaten on the plane, but Rory was hungry again. She somehow convinced Luke to make her a stack of pancakes and a plate of chili fries, with a side of endless decaf coffee. Lorelai then settled at the counter next to her daughter and proceeded to complain about how mean Luke had been in her absence. Luke would emerge from the kitchen periodically to roll his eyes and refill Rory's coffee cup.

At one point he interjected that he had spent the night with Lorelai the night before, keeping her company—therefore, he wasn't mean. This elicited raised eyebrows from Jess and "whoo"s from Rory. Luke and Lorelai both blushed….

Lorelai then yelled at Luke for ten minutes as he left her to deal with the young adults on her own. Somehow in the conversation she managed to mention that she'd broken up with Tom. This was news to Luke.

"You and Timmy boy broke up?" he asked, serving Rory her chili fries.

Lorelai rolled her eyes at Luke's nickname for Tom. "Yeah. I just all of a sudden realized that…I basically didn't like him."

"How'd you do it?" Rory asked, slapping Jess' hand as he tried to steal a fry. "Get your own."

"Sorry."

"I'm not gonna tell you how I broke up with Tom." Lorelai scoffed as if it were the most ridiculous thing in the world.

"Oh, why not?" Luke asked, placing Rory's pancakes in front of her and then standing with his arms crossed, staring at Lorelai.

"I—Be—Just because." Lorelai stuttered.

"I bet she mentioned you in her break-up," Rory teased Luke, looking up at him from under her eyelashes with a childlike look on her face.

"I did not!" Lorelai said a little too quickly and defensively.

"She did!" Jess exclaimed, distracting Rory enough so he could steal a fry.

"I'm gonna get it out of you eventually," Rory said, admitting defeat for tonight. "Did you steal a fry?" she asked suddenly, turning to Jess.

"Of course not."

"You're lying."

"Through my teeth."

Rory grinned. "At least I got it out of you."

"And quickly." Jess grinned, too, and then they kissed. Lorelai watched for a second, and then turned to Luke.

"I didn't mention you."

"I think you did."

"I didn't, I swear!"

"Does it really matter?"

"I—Well—I don't know," Lorelai admitted.

"Yeah. So stop denying and go ahead and admit it."

"But I didn't!"

"Hi, excuse me, sexual tension headquarters, but we need to figure out where to sleep tonight," Rory butted in.

"Jess'll sleep here." Luke said matter-of-factly.

"And you'll sleep at home."

"Yeah. Well, about that…."

"Rory. Sweetie. Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

Rory blushed slightly and nodded. "But, we're not gonna do anything. We slept together last night, but it was fully clothed, nothing happening, practically only best friends sleep."

"But you kiss. And there was probably hugging," Lorelai said.

"Nothing's gonna happen!"

"Whatever, sweetie. But still, your bed's too small for two people, especially when one's pregnant, and Jess' bed here is too small."

"How do you know?" Luke butted in.

"Hello, I've been in your apartment."

"Oh, right."

"Anyway, where would you guys sleep?"

"We were thinking about the Inn," Jess answered.

"The Inn. My Inn?"

"Yeah." Rory nodded.

"You guys want to get a room together in my Inn." Lorelai stated, as if to get the facts right.

"Yeah," Jess nodded.

"I can't believe I'm gonna do this, I can't believe I'm gonna do this," Lorelai muttered. "Fine."

"Thank you, Mom."

"Uh-huh. I'll take you guys over there right now. Bye, Luke." Lorelai stood from the stool.

Rory swallowed the last of her pancakes. "Bye, Luke. Thanks for driving me to the airport yesterday. And for picking us up today."

"No problem."

"Bye, Luke." Jess nodded, and followed both Gilmore women from the diner, his arm around Rory's waist. Luke sighed and started cleaning up.

\--

"Okay. So you guys get room 205, one bed, big enough for both of ya, complimentary breakfast in the morning, cooked by Sookie, of course, and no sex at all." Lorelai said as she led Rory and Jess up the stairs of the Dragonfly Inn to their room, dangling a key in front of them.

"Mom!" Rory exclaimed.

"What? No sex." She pointed a finger first in Rory's face, and then in Jess', and sent Jess a glare. Rory rolled her eyes and stole the key from her mother's hand.

"I love you, you're crazy, I'll see you in the morning." Rory kissed Lorelai on the cheek and headed into the room, pulling Jess with her. Jess gave Lorelai a two-finger salute goodbye, and then the door slammed shut on Lorelai's face. She pouted, walked back downstairs, and then made her way behind the front desk.

"Hi, Tobin!" she greeted the night manager, who she'd hired from the Independence. "I'm gonna use the phone."

"Go ahead, Lorelai."

"Thanks." Lorelai angled the phone so it was facing her, and dialed a very familiar number. Luke picked up on the second ring.

"Lorelai, she's growing up. Let her do that. I'm not going to spend the night at your house one more time. Stop calling after ten."

"Who's Lorelai?" Lorelai asked in a very fake deep voice. "This is Robert. I wish to speak to…Bob. Uh, wait, I'm Bob. I wish to speak to Bill."

"Lorelai," Luke sighed. "You need to let your daughter go. You've got to face it at some point. She's twenty-three and pregnant. She's in love. She—"

"Has no place to live," Lorelai interrupted in her own voice. "She dropped out of her last month of Yale because of a guy. She's  _young_. Too young to have a baby. I…I can't handle her being old, Luke."

"I know," Luke said softly and understandingly. At least, for him. "But it's going to happen whether you can handle it or not."

"Just one more night." Lorelai pleaded. "I promise, we'll watch some horrible man movie you want to watch, and eat only carrots and lettuce."

"I'm not a rabbit, Lorelai."

"Is that a yes?"

Luke sighed. "Fine."

"Yay!"

"I'll be right over."

"So will I." Lorelai grinned. "I'm at the Inn. I'm heading home right now."

"Call me when you get home."

"No way you're getting off that easily, mister. You are going to head over to my house right now. If I don't get there…wait for me."

"Lorelai," Luke sighed.

"Stop sighing and saying my name. It's starting to really get annoying."

"It's one of my only real personality traits."

Lorelai grinned. "See you in a few!"

"Uh-huh," Luke said unenthusiastically.

"Bye." Lorelai hung up and then walked out of the Inn, grinning.

\--

"Ahh, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry!" Lorelai yelled as she exited her Jeep and ran up the steps of her front porch. "I'm sorry I'm late," she said breathlessly as she ground to a halt in front of the porch swing, where Luke was sitting with a very annoyed look on his face.

"Fifteen minutes, Lorelai," he said slowly, glaring. "I've been waiting for fifteen minutes."

"I know." Lorelai grinned. "I waited till I was sure you'd be here, and then I left the Inn. And then I drove around the town about three times, and now here I am!"

Luke stood. "Look, do you really want me here?"

"Yes!" Lorelai grabbed one of Luke's arms with both of hers and started steering him to the door. "I suspect, Luke, that you and I will be practically family before long. We'll be like the parental units of both Rory  _and_  Jess, not to mention the grandparental units of little unborn baby Gilmore."

"Why would I be a grandparental unit?" Luke asked, stumbling a little over the word, "grandparental."

"Because," Lorelai stated simply as she searched through her purse for her keys.

Luke rolled his eyes. "Perhaps you'd care to elaborate?"

Lorelai continued digging through her purse. "Rory sees you as practically a father, I think you're a better father for her than Chris _ever_  was, and you're like a dad to Jess, who will be like a dad to the baby, who will see you as a grandfather. So, you're gonna be my partner in crime." Lorelai stopped digging for a second and grinned at Luke. "Ah, it's gonna be so much fun. We can spoil the kid all over before finally sending it back to the parents. It's like being an aunt, except old." Lorelai pulled a face, and then turned back to her purse.

" _You_  can spoil it, I'll do the opposite. Besides, I have a feeling Rory'll be able to corrupt it to love coffee within a year."

"If she's my kid, she will. Ooh, found 'em!" Lorelai emerged triumphant from her purse, holding her keys.

As she unlocked the door, Luke hoisted his overnight bag to his shoulder and said, "And then the kid'll visit you, and you'll force feed it so much chocolate that it'll sneeze brown."

"Oh, but I bet, if it's a girl, she'll be able to look up at you with those big beautiful blue eyes, and charm you out of  _anything_." Lorelai grinned as they stepped into her kitchen. "I know you, Luke, and I know that she'll be able to get anything from you, just like Rory did when she was younger."

Luke sputtered. "She did not."

"Oh, yes, she did. You want something to drink? We've got water and," Lorelai opened the empty refrigerator, "water."

"No, thanks, I'm good."

"You filled up before you came here, didn't you?"

"No. I'm still full from last night."

Lorelai grinned. "You're such a wuss. Come on, let's go watch movies. Ooh, and we can play Monopoly!"

"No," Luke protested as he followed Lorelai to the living room.

"Oh, you know you're gonna end up playing anyway, so why don't you just stop protesting. I get to be the boot!"

"Damn, there goes my strategy," Luke said sarcastically.

"Shit, you figured out mine."

Luke rolled his eyes as Lorelai grinned and set up the board on the coffee table.


	2. Water And Wind Are Forces To Be Reckoned With

"Lorelai, open a window," Luke complained, waving his hands around her wet nails, hoping to get rid of the god-awful smell.

"Don't wave so much," Lorelai commanded, shielding her hands from his with her body. "You'll mess up my nails."

"Oh, and that's so important."

"But it is. See, I've had the best idea for an outfit stashed in my closet for the past week, but I haven't worn it cause I haven't had a chance to completely coordinate my outfit. And then yesterday I found the barrette I've been looking for for, like, a month, and so I figured today would be the best day to do the outfit, but only if I painted my nails. And aren't they pretty?" Lorelai held her nails up to Luke. In Luke's opinion, they were pretty ugly. They were alternately neon green and black, with a black stripe down the green and a green stripe down the black.

"I guess."

"Oh, wow, they must be good! You sound so unenthused, like normal!" Lorelai took her hands back and blew on them a little. "What movie should we watch next?"

"Can't we just sleep? Your explanation has me wishing I could lie down."

"Don't be rude, Luke. Let's watch the second Matrix again. You can see Keanu's ass!"

"Oh, and that's your wonderful argument to get me to want to watch it.  _Again_." Luke rolled his eyes.

"No, you want to watch it cause of Monica Bellucci. And the kick-ass fight scenes. Hell,  _I_  like the kick-ass fight scenes."

"Lorelai, we've already seen it. We watched it last night."

"Uh…no…that was…the _other_  one. Yeah, that's the ticket."

Luke laughed. "All right, Jon Lovitz. Let's watch the second Matrix again."

"Yay!" Lorelai jumped up and searched through a mountain of videotapes for the movie.

Luke leaned back into the couch. "Next time we need to see the third movie."

"Yeah, I agree, but I haven't gotten around to getting it yet."

"I'll bring it next time. I've got it."

Lorelai settled onto the floor as the movie started playing. "Get down here," she said harshly to Luke, pointing to the floor next to her.

Luke rolled his eyes. "You're so weird. You have a couch, yet you don't sit on it."

"I sit on it. It's just not the best place to watch movies."

"Oh, of course."

"Shut up! I love this preview!"

"Yes, ma'am."

Lorelai shot him a look, and he pantomimed closing his mouth with a key. She nodded, and then they turned back to the movie. Neither noticed how close they were sitting, how their bodies were slightly touching in different parts—shoulders, hips, arms, legs. Neither noticed anything strange when Lorelai settled herself so that her body was held up by Luke's, or when Luke's arm somehow wound its way around Lorelai.

And both seemed to ignore the earlier comments about Luke returning to Lorelai's…as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

\--

Jess woke up late the next morning, jet-lagged and still dead tired. Underneath his interlaced fingers was movement, and at first he freaked out, before realizing that his hands were resting on Rory's stomach, and the movement was the baby. He grinned, pulled her body closer to his, and slowly drifted back into sleep, the rain pattering the window helping to lull him there.

\--

Luke and Lorelai awoke at the same time, sleeping on the floor in front of her couch. Luke's arm was around her shoulder, with his hand resting on her hip, and her head was on his shoulder. Slowly, as they regained consciousness, they realized where they were, and who they were with. They both jumped up and apart at the same time.

"So," Luke said, his eyes focused on the floor.

"Yeah," Lorelai said, her eyes on a spot on her couch.

"I guess I should go."

"Probably." Lorelai nodded.

"Yeah." Luke looked up, and Lorelai also looked up. They caught each other's eyes for a second, and grinned, and then ducked their heads again, blushing. "Bye, Lorelai."

"Bye." Lorelai nodded from her spot, her eyes on the floor. Luke nodded, and then walked past her, to the door. He opened the door, stood there for a second, and then closed the door again. When he walked back into the living room, he was dripping all over the floor.

"It's raining like hell out there."

Lorelai finally looked up and giggled. "So I see."

"It's really bad. There's wind, and lightning, and I'm surprised we haven't heard any thunder, and the lights haven't gone—"

Luke was cut off by a huge clap of thunder, simultaneous with a streak of lightning big enough to light the house. Which was good, cause the lightning caused the power to go out.

"—Out," Luke finished.

Lorelai glared through her grin. "Luke, you know better than to tempt the fates."

"I did not tempt the fates."

"Yes you did. With your stupid 'I'm surprised we haven't heard any thunder, and the lights haven't gone out' comment." Lorelai moved from between the couch and the coffee table, intending to walk to the kitchen. As she neared Luke, she tripped over something in the dark, and fell face forward onto Luke. Being pitch-black, as it was, Luke didn't realize she was coming until she hit his chest with her face. He didn't have a chance to brace himself, so he fell backwards, holding Lorelai's arms with his hands and pulling her with him.

"Shit, Lorelai, do you just like to make me miserable?"

"Yes, I was  _miserably_  heading to the kitchen, so I could light some  _miserable_  candles." Lorelai said sarcastically, putting her hands on the floor on both sides of Luke, so she could push herself up. But her hand slipped in the puddle Luke had left, and she fell into him again.

"Oh," Luke groaned as her chin slammed into his chest.

"Tell me about it." Lorelai groaned back.

Both lay there for a minute, waiting until their breathing slowed.

"Hmm. Maybe you should just roll off. Slowly." Luke suggested.

"Good idea." Lorelai tried to nod, but she was still lying on his chest. He just grabbed both of her arms and started to slowly roll her to his left side. Realizing what he was doing, she slid, helping him, and after a minute, Luke and Lorelai were lying on the floor, side-by-side, in a rapidly spreading puddle of water, Luke's arm under the crook of her neck, and one of her arms slung across his chest.

\--

Jess started out of sleep with a "Whoa!" as a huge clap of thunder shook the Inn. Rory glanced over at the bed from her spot in the armchair by the window.

"Afternoon, sleepyhead. I see the thunder finally shocked you awake."

"Oh, right," Jess nodded, sliding from under the covers and walking over to her. "And what woke you up?"

Rory smiled as Jess stood behind the chair and slid his arms around her. "Thunder. But thunder half an hour ago."

"Ah." Jess finally noticed the fact that the lights were out and Rory was bathed in candlelight. "What's with the candles? Are you trying to seduce me, Miss Gilmore?" he whispered into her ear.

She grinned, yet rolled her eyes. "The power went out, Dustin."

"Really?"

"Yep. It's a pretty powerful storm. The candles were dropped off by Sookie."

"Nice of her," Jess commented, settling into the other armchair. "Called your mom?"

Rory shook her head. "The phones are out, 'cause the power's out, and I can't find my cell."

Jess started to stand up. "I'll try to find mine."

Rory grabbed his arm and forced him back into the chair, her eyes remaining on the window. "Let's watch the storm for a while, first."

"Okay," Jess agreed, wrapping both of his hands around one of hers. She watched the pouring rain with content, and he watched her.

\--

"I'm tired," Lorelai yawned, leaning into Luke.

"Me, too. I guess we just haven't woken up yet."

"No, I'm awake, I'm just tired. I feel like I've gone through a hell of a lot over the past three days. My long-lost daughter showed up, pregnant, and then told a long story about how she'd been artificially inseminated, and then she decided she was going to California to declare her love for Jess, and then they came back together, and I broke up with my boyfriend, and my daughter slept with a man in the same bed."

"Mmm." Luke tightened his grip around Lorelai as she curled into him. "Why'd you break up with Tom?" he asked after a minute.

"God, not this again." Lorelai groaned, although she was a little amazed that Luke had finally gotten the name right.

"You don't have to answer, I guess. I was just wondering…is it cause of me?"

Lorelai paused. Was it? She used to be sure of the negative, but now she felt a little wishy-washy.

"No, no, you don't have to answer. Forget I asked." Luke shook his head, and then sat up. "We should probably get those candles, shouldn't we?"

"Yeah. Yeah, we should." Lorelai sat up next to him. "Help me up?" she asked, holding out her hands. Luke groaned as he pushed himself from the floor, careful not to slip in the water. When he stood he grabbed Lorelai's hands and pulled her up. Their arms went around each other's waists as they tried to steady themselves in the puddle. Then Lorelai started walking carefully to the kitchen, and Luke grabbed her hand to keep her steady as they walked together.

\--

"Found it!" Jess yelled, holding his cell phone up in triumph. He walked from the corner they'd thrown their bags in the night before back to Rory in her armchair by the window. "Here you are, madam."

"Thank you much." Rory tried to turn the phone on repeatedly, but nothing happened. "Uh, Jess? There's not much goin' on here."

"What?" He took the phone from her hand. "Shit." He grinned sheepishly at her. "Sorry, but I forgot to charge it."

Rory shrugged. "We probably wouldn't get any service, anyway." She gestured at the window, where the wind was forcing a tree across the grounds to practically bend over.

"I see what you mean." Jess nodded, and then stood there for a minute, just staring at Rory. "Hey."

"Hmm?" Rory asked, still gazing out the window.

"You know what it'd be fun to do today?" Jess kneeled down and crossed his arms on top of the arm of the chair, and then settled his head on his arms, so that he was eye-level with her stomach.

"What?" she asked, looking down into his eyes.

"I should head downstairs and see if they've got any food, and then bring whatever they do have back up here, and then we can get in bed and just watch the storm."

"That sounds wonderful." Rory smiled, and Jess leaned up to kiss her lightly.

"Great." He grinned. "I'll go do that."

"You go do that."

Jess kissed Rory one more time, and then walked out of the room.


	3. A New Start

"I found some," Lorelai said, pulling three white candles from a drawer in the kitchen and setting them on the table.

"I don't know how you can find anything in this kitchen," Luke complained from the other side of the room, also searching through drawers.

"Shut up. It's like…organized chaos."

"Or just chaos."

"Don't be so rude. I could send you back into the rain."

"I'm starting to think that wouldn't be such a horrible thing."

"Of course it would. Have you seen my floor?"

Luke rolled his eyes, and continued searching.

"I can't find anything else over here. I'm taking the flashlight upstairs." Lorelai grabbed the flashlight from its spot where it stood in the center of the table. Luke moved from his side of the kitchen and grabbed Lorelai's wrist.

"Why?"

"So I can look through the bathroom and my bedroom." Lorelai said matter-of-factly.

"Why do you have candles in your bedroom? That's a fire hazard."

"Luke…" Lorelai said pointedly.

"Oh," he released her wrist as he realized. "Oh. But, leave the flashlight, and you take a candle."

"But, Luke, I'm a  _girl_."

"And I'm a guy. I get to keep the flashlight. You get to suffer."

"Why?" Lorelai whined.

"Because it's your fault I'm stuck here. If you hadn't made me stay here last night—" Luke was cut off by Lorelai.

"Gee, I'm sorry it was so  _horrible_. Well, don't worry. You never have to do it again." Lorelai grabbed the three candles from the table and a box of matches from atop her pie safe. "I want you out of my house if you hate me so much." Lorelai started upstairs, trying to light the candles on her way.

Luke sighed, and wrestled internally. He didn't  _hate_ her…Jess' words from the day before rang in his head.  _"The Gilmore girls are good at making the men who love them make fools of themselves."_ Jess had meant him, right? Lorelai was really good at making him make a fool of himself. And she seemed to always twist his arm just right…but, now that he thought about it, she  _hadn't_  really twisted his arm last night…he'd wanted to come. She'd come up with the idea, but he'd agreed. She hadn't forced him to do anything. He'd _wanted to come_. Luke grabbed the flashlight from the table where Lorelai had dropped it and started after her.

\--

"This is nice," Rory commented, as she and Jess curled together in the bed, the remains of their brunch on a tray on the floor.

"Very," Jess agreed, kissing her cheek softly.

"I just wished we could have reached Mom."

"Would have been nice," Jess nodded.

"We should see if Sookie's got a cell phone."

"Mmm, I think we should leave her alone, and let her and Jackson worry about their kids."

"Oh, God, I didn't even think about that. Their kids are in day care right now! During this huge storm! Poor Sookie."

"Yeah." Jess pulled Rory a little closer to him. "Just think, in less than four months, we'll have to worry about a little one of our own."

Rory grinned and rubbed Jess' arms, where they were wrapped around her stomach. "Yeah. I can't wait."

"Me, either."

Jess, feeling completely at rest with Rory in his arms, was starting to drift off when she suddenly sat up.

"Jess?"

"Yeah?" He sat up, too, and looked into her eyes.

"Did you just say what I think you said?"

"'Me either'?" he asked, confused.

"No, no, no, before that."

Jess thought back over what he'd said, and then recognition dawned in his eyes. "Oh."

"Yeah." Rory nodded. "Did—did you really mean that?"

Jess looked past Rory at the wall behind her, and then smiled—a real, genuine, smile—and looked into her eyes. "Can I?"

Rory ducked her head. When he placed his hand under her chin and lifted her head up to look at him, she had a grin on her face and tears in her eyes. "You better."

He grinned back. "I do."

She laughed and fell into his arms. "God! You're so great!"

"Thank you." He laughed also and fell back to the bed, pulling her with him. "I do mean it, you know," he started seriously, rolling Rory off of him and looking into her eyes. "A kid needs a father. I know that more than anyone. I'll be his dad."

"Even if it's a girl?"

Jess nodded solemnly. "Even if it's a girl."

Rory grinned again and kissed Jess. "Thank you."

"My pleasure." Jess leaned in and kissed Rory again.

\--

Luke crept slowly up the stairs, afraid to call out to Lorelai, in case she screamed at him and wouldn't let him near her. He kept the flashlight beam focused on the step in front of him, because he'd known Lorelai long enough to know that if you walked up her stairs without looking, you'd be at the bottom before long.

As he reached the top step, he noticed a soft flickering in her bedroom, and he clicked the flashlight off.

"Goddammit!" she screamed, and stomped her foot on the floor. Luke jumped back to the stairs, ready to flee back down, but apparently she wasn't yelling at him. He slid against the wall and peeked around her doorframe. She was holding one lit candle, standing in front of her dresser, and the other two candles were unlit and in candle holders. She had apparently been searching through her dresser, as clothes looked like they had been thrown onto the floor, but that could have already been there. She was scratching at something on her arm, and Luke figured that she'd spilt wax on herself.

"Lorelai? Are you okay?" he asked, walking around the corner into her room.

"Oh, my God," she said, holding her hand to her chest, "you freaked the hell out of me."

"Sorry about that." Luke dropped the flashlight on her bed and walked over to her. "Lemme see your arm."

"No," Lorelai protested, shielding her arm from Luke with her body. "I'm mad at you."

"Lorelai, don't be mad at me." Luke almost sighed, but caught himself. "Let me see your arm."

"No."

"Lorelai. I just want to make sure you're okay."

Lorelai, surprised by his soft tone, showed him her arm.

"Thank you," he said. He softly picked the dried wax off, and then examined the skin underneath. "It's a little red," he observed.

"Uh-huh."

"Does it hurt?"

Lorelai shook her head.

"Okay. Well, we should probably put a little aloe vera on it, just in case."

"I don't think we have any."

"Oh. Okay." Luke stared at the spot on her arm, and then, after a moment's thought, brought her arm to his lips and softly kissed it. Lorelai just stared. He lowered her arm and released it, keeping his head down so that Lorelai couldn't see the slight tinge of red in his cheeks.

"Wh—what'd you do that for?" she whispered softly.

Luke just shook his head and grabbed the flashlight from the bed. "Let's go downstairs."

"Luke." Lorelai walked forward two steps and grabbed his arm. He stumbled a bit, and ran into her. She grabbed both of his arms to steady him, and he grabbed her waist. Suddenly, without thinking, both leaned forward and they kissed.

\--

"Oh, the rain's stopping," Rory noticed, sliding from under the covers and walking over to the window. Jess groaned, and then followed her.

"Does this mean we have to get back to the real world?" he asked, sliding his arms around her waist.

"Yes, unfortunately." Rory grinned and placed her hands over his.

"Glad you agree with me on this."

"Mmm. Always. Oh, but I want to go back to the house, see how Mom's doing."

"You're so family-oriented."

"That I am." Rory patted Jess' hands. Jess squeezed her middle.

"Let's go."

"Okay."

They separated, and Rory changed in the bathroom, while Jess changed in the room. They were ready to leave in two minutes, and grabbed their jackets and exited the Inn.

"It's amazing how different this town looks after a rain storm," Rory observed, leaning into Jess' body, his arm around her.

"Yeah. All clean, and new."

"A new start." Rory looked up at Jess and smiled, injecting the double meaning into the words. He smiled back, and they kissed.


	4. The Unlucky Patrol

"Is that Luke's car?" Rory asked as she and Jess walked up to Lorelai's house.

"Right in front of Lorelai's," Jess nodded. Rory turned to him with a huge grin on her face.

"Do you think they…you know?"

"Do you think they did it when he stayed over here night before last?"

"No." She sighed. "But, Mom just broke up with her boyfriend." She grinned again.

Jess laughed and threw his arm around her shoulder once again. "You're so cute."

"Are you mocking me?"

"Always."

"Evil boy," Rory said, slapping Jess playfully. Jess just grinned, and they walked up the stairs to the front porch.

"Mom?" Rory called from downstairs as she entered the house. Luke and Lorelai, teetering on the edge of actually falling onto her bed, slowly and reluctantly pulled apart.

"What was that?" Luke whispered, referring to the kiss, still panting from lack of breath. His hands were cupping her face, and their foreheads were touching.

"One of those happy accidents," Lorelai answered, leaning up to kiss him again.

"Mom!" Rory called again, standing at the foot of the stairs.

"Coming!" Lorelai called, separating from Luke again so they were only inches apart. "We should go downstairs," she whispered.

"Yeah." Luke nodded, but neither moved.

"You think we should get our breath back first?"

"Probably." Luke nodded, and they just continued standing there, his hands on both of her cheeks, her hands on his wrists.

Downstairs, Rory grinned at Jess, and then yelled towards her mother's room again. "Don't make me come up there, you two!"

Luke blanched, while Lorelai grinned. "Uh-oh. The unlucky patrol's onto us."

"'Unlucky'?"

"'Cause we can't get lucky with them here." Lorelai explained.

"You've never fully grown out of the teenage stage, have you?"

"Of course not. What would be the fun in that?"

Luke grinned and kissed her quickly again. "I'm starting to get what you mean."

"Of course you are." Lorelai kissed him back.

"I'm on the bottom landing!" Rory called from downstairs.

"Should we go down there?" Lorelai asked.

Luke shook his head and kissed her again. "Let's make a run for it."

Lorelai grinned. "I like the way you think. But the trees are too far from my window, and I don't wanna pull a Pollyanna."

"Hmm." Luke looked pensive, and Lorelai grinned and kissed him again. Now that she'd started, she never wanted to stop. "Let's just hide," he suggested.

Lorelai grinned evilly. "And where would we hide?"

He raised his eyebrows suggestively, and nodded toward the bed. Her grin got wider.

"I  _love_  the way you think."

The older Danes/Gilmore couple scrambled underneath the covers to make out some more, while the younger Gilmore was leading a reluctant younger Danes up the stairs.

"Rory, maybe we should leave them alone. I don't think they want to be found, if you know what I mean."

"Jess!" she exclaimed softly, mock-shocked. "I can't believe you would even  _think_  a thought like that!" She shook her head and lifted a foot to continue toward her mother's room.

"Uh-uh," Jess grabbed Rory's arm and turned her around, pulling her down the stairs. "Let's leave them alone."

"But, but—"

"But, but, nothing. You and I will leave them alone. To avoid being bored from our minds, we'll check out the diner, see if the bookstore's open, and then head back to the Inn, or maybe the bridge."

"Mmm, the bridge." Rory grinned.

"Exactly."

"Okay. But can I yell at them before we walk out of the house?"

"Sure."

"Cool." Rory grinned, and stopped just inside the front door. "Jess and I are going to the diner and then the bookstore! We'll see you either at the diner or the Inn for dinner!  _Both_  of you! And—"

"Okay, that's enough." Jess pulled her arm, and then shut the door behind her.

"We should do this more often," Lorelai commented as she pushed the covers off of her and Luke's heads.

"Mm-hmm," Luke answered, kissing his way down Lorelai's neck. She giggled, and then rested her head on his chest.

"I like this. Lying here on top of you."

"It is pretty nice."

"'Pretty nice'?" Lorelai scoffed. "Pretty goddamn wonderful's more like it."

Luke grinned. "You know what I noticed?"

"What?" Lorelai asked, taking her turn and kissing around Luke's perpetual five o'clock shadow.

"You haven't mentioned coffee. All day long."

"You've figured out my secret. If you tempt me with some of your fabulous kisses, I ignore coffee."

"Ah, the truth comes out at last."

"And it only took you almost twenty years to figure it out."

Luke groaned. "You make us sound old."

"I know. Sucks, doesn't it?"

"It sucks ass."

Lorelai grinned. "I can fix that sucky attitude." She leaned down and kissed him again. He wrapped his arms around her and rolled her off of him, so they were lying side by side on the bed, connected at the lip.

\--

"What book'd you get? Which one? Huh? Which one?" Rory jumped up and down, holding onto one of Jess' hands with both of hers, trying to see into his bag from the bookstore.

"An old favorite."

"Oh, okay. You know what that tells me? Nothing!"

"Rather impatient, aren't we?"

"Yes, rather," Rory responded, putting on an affected accent and stopping jumping. "And I believe we're rather late for tea. It is after high noon, after all."

"God, sorry. I gotta watch who I hang out with, apparently."

"Who are you hanging out with that's causing you to say 'rather'?"

"At least I don't say it with that stupid affected accent."

"Hey! It's not stupid. It's…affected."

Jess laughed. "How did we get in this conversation?"

Rory grinned. "No idea."

"Sounds like one of our conversations." Jess stopped suddenly. Rory stopped next to him. "Here we are," he said reverently, staring at the bridge as if it were an old friend he hadn't seen in years. In a way, it was.

"I love this place." Rory gushed as they started walking slowly to the middle of the bridge. 

"Me, too."

"It always seemed like…ours."

"And that's a good thing."

"Always." Rory grinned, and she and Jess settled onto the wet wood, ignoring the wetness. Jess pulled his book from the bag and started reading. Rory grinned at the title, and then lay on the bridge with her head in his lap. "Read to me," she commanded, looking up at his face, framed by the rapidly lightening sky.

"Oh, yes, of course," he said sarcastically, before rolling his eyes and returning to the book.

"Read!" she whined. "I'm pregnant," she said in a warning tone after the whining failed. Jess laughed.

"Are you gonna use that every time you want to get something out of me?"

"For the next four months. At least. And then I can use the 'but I just had a baby!' excuse." She grinned.

"Okay. I'll read to you. But I'm skipping the intro."

"Fine with me." Rory shrugged, and Jess flipped through the thirty-page introduction. He smoothed Rory's bobbed hair from her face, cleared his throat, and started on the first chapter.

" _Chapter one: The Bride_. 'The year that Buttercup was born, the most beautiful woman in the world was a French scullery maid named Annette…."

\--

At Lorelai's house, Lorelai and Luke were upstairs in her bed, buried underneath her covers. At the bridge, Rory and Jess were basking in each other's company. And on Rory's cell phone, a voice message was being left.

"Rory? This is Mark. Your boyfriend. Look, I know that I haven't been the best of boyfriends for a while now, but I'm gonna be in Hartford next week, and I was hoping that you were in Stars Hollow and we could maybe get some coffee. I know how much you love coffee. Say hi to your mom, Paris, and Lane for me. Uh, you know where to reach me. Love ya."

* _Click!_ *


	5. Searching in the Dark

"'But from a narrative point of view, in one hundred five pages,  _nothing happens_. Except this: "What with one thing and another, three years passed."'" Jess flipped the page. " _Chapter Five: The Announcement_. 'The Great Square of Florin City was filled as never before, awaiting the introduction of Prince Humperdinck's bride-to-be, Princess Buttercup of Hammersmith.'"

 

"Wait," Rory lifted a hand in front of the book. "Can we maybe go find Mom and Luke? I'm hungry."

"Sure. You didn't have to interrupt me, though."

Rory smiled at Jess' mock-scowl. "I'm sorry," she apologized as he placed the book back into the bookstore bag.

"Well…I guess, if you're sorry…." Jess grinned and used his arms already around Rory to give her a hug.

"All is forgiven," Rory smiled.

"Yep." Jess stood up, and then pulled Rory up. "Off to find the parental units."

"They're probably still at Mom's."

"And let's not think about what they're doing," Jess pleaded, a disgusted look on his face. Rory laughed.

"Deal." She leaned into his body, and he wrapped both of his arms around her, as if to protect her.

* * *

"I need to get to the diner," Luke said, sliding from under the covers and grabbing his hat from the floor of Lorelai's room. 

"Okay. I'll come with you."

Luke hesitated—it was slight, but she noticed anyway.

"Luke? Do you…not want me to come with you?"

He sighed. "No. I mean, yes. I mean…this is new territory for us."

She stood from the bed and faced him, grabbing his head to make him look at her. "Yeah.  _Us._  We're in this together."

He sighed, and ran his hands from her shoulders down to her waist. "I just…don't want to be one of those touchy feely couples."

She laughed. "Luke. I've known you for  _years_. Believe me, I'm not expecting you to become touchy feely just because we've kissed." She laughed again.

He shifted a little uncomfortably. "I wouldn't mind being a  _little_ touchy feely."

She grinned. "Just not in public."

"Right."

"I got it. I understand completely." She interlaced her fingers behind his neck. "And we're not in public," she whispered.

He grinned and leaned in. She also grinned and met him halfway.

"Mom!" Rory yelled from downstairs, slamming the front door. Both adults sighed, and reluctantly pulled apart.

"Diner," Luke said simply.

"Dinner," Lorelai said back. She grinned, and slid her hand down his arm until it was nestled in his hand. He situated his hat on his head and allowed himself to be pulled downstairs.

"Hi!" Lorelai greeted Rory and Jess, who were standing in the entranceway. "How was your trip through the storm?"

"Okay," Rory grinned, noticing how Luke was gripping Lorelai's hand tightly. "The Inn lost power, though."

"Oh, God. Was Sookie there?"

Rory nodded.

"Okay. So, she's not going to have to come into work for a week. I've been late for the past two days."

"Me, too." Luke added.

"You know what, Mom? I think if you just  _explained_  things to her, she might understand."

Lorelai grinned as she got Rory's meaning. As she and Luke reached the bottom of the stairs, she released his hand and ran to her daughter. They were whispering and giggling in seconds. Then Lorelai looked up.

"Luke? I think Rory and I are going to check out the situation at the Inn."

Luke nodded. "Jess and I'll check out the diner."

"Kay. Bye." Lorelai walked back over to Luke and pecked him on the cheek. He blushed slightly, noticing the eyebrow raise Rory gave Jess. But then Rory gave Jess his own goodbye peck, and the girls left, waiting to close the door until the boys walked from the house. Then everyone exchanged a second goodbye kiss, and headed their separate ways.

* * *

Inside the house, Lorelai's phone was ringing.

"I'm just a simple girl, in a high tech digital world. It's not hard to understand, just follow this simple plan! Follow your heart, your intuition, it will lead you in the right— _beep!_ " Lorelai's song on the answering machine was cut off.

"Uh, Lorelai?" A male voice asked. "Uh, Lorelai Gilmore? This is Mark. Mark Miller. I'm Rory's boyfriend. I've tried calling her cell phone, but she's not answering. So, if you could get her a message from me, that'd be great. Uh, I'm gonna be in Hartford next week, and I'd really like to see her. She knows my number. Th—"

_Beep!_

* * *

Rory was sitting on a sofa in the lobby of the Dragonfly Inn reading by candlelight and Lorelai was rushing around, barking emergency orders at everyone, when suddenly every light in the entire inn turned on. A few people cheered, and Rory grinned and blew her candle out, closing the book and setting it back on the table she'd lifted it from.

"Mom?" she asked as she walked over.

"Hey, sweets! Looks like we can head home in a little while."

Rory nodded. "Anything I can do?"

"Uh, yeah. Rooms 4, 5, and 7 are all empty. If you could turn the lights off in those rooms, that'd be great."

"You got it." Rory walked to the first of the rooms her mother had indicated and entered. Every light was on, from when Sookie had gone around the Inn after the power had first gone out, turning the lights on and giving out candles. Rory moved around the room, turning off both bedside lamps, the lights in the bathroom, and the overhead lights before heading to the second room her mother had mentioned. She repeated the routine twice, but before she left the third room, she stood by the window and looked over the grounds. There were gardeners with flashlights scoping the entire place, picking up branches and setting up benches again. One of the men kicked a stone accidentally, and it flew into the pond, making large ripples. Rory watched as the perfect reflection of the night sky wavered and scrambled itself. She kept her eyes focused on the pond until the water reflected the black sky with its pinpoints of stars once again, and then exited the room.

"Ready?" Lorelai smiled, shrugging into her coat, as Rory walked up to her.

"Yeah. Thanks." Rory took her coat from her mother and they left the Inn.

* * *

Luke emerged from the kitchen into the empty diner and shoved two plates at Jess, before walking directly back into the kitchen again. He returned seconds later, holding two more plates.

"Put the plates at a table and get in there and clean up." Luke nodded toward the kitchen. Jess rolled his eyes.

"I don't think so." He set the plates on the counter and picked his book up again. Luke put the plates he was carrying on a table, and then walked over to Jess and grabbed his book.

"Clean up!" he yelled, pointing to the kitchen.

"Yes, sir," Jess mock-saluted and exited.

"How has he remained a teenager for the last five years?" Luke shook his head, and then left the diner.

There was silence for a minute or two.

"Ah! Shit!" Jess yelled from the back, at the exact second Rory and Lorelai entered the diner. They glanced at each other and giggled.

"Jess?" Rory called, handing her coat to her mother and walking towards where she'd heard his voice.

"Rory?" he asked.

"I'm gonna head upstairs," Lorelai said. Rory nodded, and pushed through the door to the kitchen.

"Luke?" Lorelai asked as she neared his apartment door. It was dark. She screwed up her face in thought. He obviously wasn't there, but he hadn't been downstairs, either. Was he in the kitchen? She turned around to head downstairs, but then turned back.

This was Luke's apartment. She'd seen it thousands of times before…even a few nights ago, when she and Rory had eaten there. But she'd never before spent an entire afternoon doing…what she'd done with Luke that afternoon. She grinned and tried the doorknob. Unlocked.

She practically cackled gleefully, but caught herself before she acted too much like a Wicked Witch. The apartment was dark, but she'd seen that through the door. She ignored the part of the place she knew to have been Jess' at one point, and started walking through the dark to Luke's side. She ran into something, hitting her shin, and covered her mouth to keep from screaming and alerting Rory and Jess to her presence up there, but whatever she ran into fell to the floor with a musical clang.

"A guitar?" she asked through her hand. "I cannot see Luke with a guitar." She thought she heard feet on the stairs, and paused, ready to bolt, but there was nothing. She let out a deep and exaggerated sigh of relief, and then giggled at herself. As she continued edging toward Luke's room, she realized that she felt high on the possibility of getting caught. She continued giggling as she hit Luke's bed, and collapsed on it. She crawled to his pillow, and inhaled his scent, and hugged it to her as she lay there, still giggling quietly.

* * *

Luke edged nervously toward Lorelai's house, worried that someone would find out that he was there, what he was doing, what he'd done with Lorelai that afternoon. He glanced at the Dells' home…Morey seemed to be playing jazz piano, and it sounded like Babette was scatting along. He steeled his nerves and entered the house—it was unlocked, like he knew it would be—and made his way to Rory's room.

He felt uncomfortable in the younger Gilmore's bedroom; always had. He felt like he was intruding, but this was where Lorelai had turned on the stereo for the past two nights, and this was where Lorelai left her CDs.

He awkwardly walked to Rory's desk, mirroring Lorelai's movements from the night before. There was a CD book on top of the stereo, and in the…left-hand, second drawer, the rest of the CDs were kept. Luke picked up the book first, and flipped through. She'd called that CD "sappy fun", that one "romantic", and that one "perfect proposal music". Luke paused before slipping the third one from its spot. After a second, he transferred it to the Ziplock bag he'd brought with him, only to transfer it back in a matter of mere seconds.

With the first two CDs in the plastic bag, he tucked it into the inside pocket of his jacket, and then left the room, hopefully with nothing different—except for the missing CDs, of course.

Making his way from the house, he decided to leave by the back door, for fear of too much exposure the front way. As he walked through her yard to the street, he marveled at how familiar he was with her home, and Lorelai herself. It seemed as if they'd been on a "first date" for years, and were only now getting to the good stuff.

* * *

As Lorelai's giggling subsided, she reached up and turned on Luke's bedside lamp. She returned the pillow to its proper place on his bed, before walking over to where the guitar had fallen. She stood it back up, leaning against the wall, and mentally mapped out a route for her to take when she left the apartment. Satisfied that she wouldn't run into anything this time, she walked back to the bed to turn off Luke's lamp. A sheet of paper with her name on it caught her eye, however, and she glanced around the empty apartment before cautiously picking it up to read it.

_Lorelai and Rory reunion dinner_

_Music: Lorelai's favorite romantic singers: Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, "all the old greats". (what does that mean?) Ask Jess about Rory._

_Food: Coffee (decaf for Rory), cheeseburgers, fries, etc. Nothing fancy, and nothing healthy._

_Place: Diner? Apartment? Her house?_

_Atmosphere: Tablecloths, candles. Music should be soft._

_How to get them here?_

Lorelai's giggles returned.

"He's making me dinner!" She hugged the sheet of paper to herself, before putting it back on the nightstand, turning off the lamp, and walking out of the apartment.

* * *

Rory put the last pot into the dishwasher, poured soap in as directed, and closed the door with an accomplished flourish. She turned to Jess to tell him how she'd done it herself, when she realized she'd gotten her sleeve caught in the door.

"Urk…Jess," she called plaintively, unable to bend to open the dishwasher again. Jess turned from the corner where he was mopping and burst out laughing. She glared.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he apologized, leaning the mop against the wall and walking over to her in order to release her.

"You will be," she said cryptically. He chuckled.

"'You will be'," he mocked. "That sounds so stupid."

She hit him, newly released. "Don't be mean."

"That wasn't mean. It really does sound stupid."

She glared, like a little kid who hadn't gotten what she'd wanted. He laughed, again, and as she was opening her mouth to ream him, he leaned in and kissed her, softly, sweetly. She tried to glare as they parted, but she couldn't. She sighed.

"You are very evil."

"Yet I'm a good kisser."

"Yes, it's rather confusing," she said, using the affected accent on the word 'rather'.

He rolled his eyes, and used his own affected accent when he answered her. "Yes, rather."

She giggled and leaned in to kiss him again.

* * *

Lorelai was coming downstairs from Luke's apartment when Luke was walking into the diner from Lorelai's house. They caught each other's eyes, and then glanced away, before Lorelai rushed over to him and threw her arms around him. 

"You are too sweet," she said after they separated from their first initial round of kisses.

"I'm not sweet," he said roughly.

She grinned. "Of course not." She was attacking him with another round of kisses when Rory and Jess entered from the kitchen.

"A-Hem," Rory said loudly, grinning.

"Oh!" Lorelai and Luke separated, but she kept her arms around his neck. "I didn't see you there!"

"Obviously," Rory answered her mother.

Luke cleared his throat, and awkwardly ducked underneath Lorelai's arms. "Uh, why don't you take Rory for a walk or something. Just about ten minutes."

Lorelai grinned and threw her arms around his neck again. "Anything." She covered him with a flurry of kisses, and eventually Rory had to peel her mother off of Luke. Luke nodded when she did, and then Rory steered Lorelai out of the diner.

Jess looked at Luke with a questioning look on his face. Luke ignored it.

"Go upstairs and get the radio."

"Why?"

"For dinner."

"O-kay," Jess said hesitantly, before turning and heading upstairs.

* * *

"Luke's so dreamy," Lorelai said as Rory steered her to the gazebo.

 "Are you okay?"

Lorelai nodded. "He's so sweet."

"Okay, did you hit your head or something when you were in Luke's apartment? Cause Jess and I heard the clang, but when you didn't scream, we figured either you were unconscious, or didn't want us to come up." Rory shrugged. "I took a chance."

"Aw. You must love me so much."

"That I do."

"Anyway, no, I didn't hit my head, but I did happen to see a very sweet note, concerning us!" Lorelai squealed.

"And what might that note have been?"

"Luke…" Lorelai paused for dramatic effect, "is cooking…dinner…for us…complete with music, and tablecloths, and candles!" Lorelai squealed again, and this time Rory joined in.

"That's so sweet!"

"I know!"

* * *

Ten minutes later, Luke and Jess walked out to the gazebo.

"Excuse me, madam," Jess started in his affected accent, holding out his arm to Rory, "might I request your presence at the diner?"

"Why, yes, you may," Rory said in her affected accent, taking Jess' arm. The younger couple started to the diner, and Luke turned to Lorelai.

"It's ready," he said roughly.

"Too sweet!" Lorelai yelled, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him. When they separated, they were both flushed from the kiss. "Let's go."

"Let's."

Lorelai grabbed Luke's arm with both of hers, and they followed the path Rory and Jess had taken.

"Oh, wow," Lorelai breathed as they got closer to the diner. Through the window she could see the multitude of candles spread around the place. She kissed Luke quickly on the cheek, and he pushed the door open. A slow Sam Phillips song quietly sang from the radio set on the counter—one of Rory's choices. Lorelai located Rory in a corner with Jess; she was laughing while he was talking to her stomach, one hand firmly placed on it. Lorelai smiled, but immediately forgot about her daughter when Luke showed her their table.

* * *

Lorelai, Rory, and Jess left the diner over an hour later. Luke was going to spend the night in his own apartment, because he'd opened late the day before and not at all that day, and he couldn't afford many more days like that. After a few minutes, Lorelai kissed her daughter on the cheek and left them to their own devices, wishing them to have a romantic walk back to the Inn. She watched them wander arm in arm down the street, laughing and looking at the stars, and then pulled her cell phone from her purse.

"Luke?" she asked after he answered.

"I'm staying here, Lorelai."

"I know. I just…wanted to tell you that I really loved the dinner. That was a wonderful gesture."

"I'm glad you think so, Lorelai."

She could tell he was grinning, and that made her grin. She started in with idle chit-chat, and they talked as she walked all the way home, and even after she'd reached her house.

* * *

"It's such a nice night," Rory observed as she and Jess weaved from side to side down the road, walking as if they were drunk, when really they were so in love they couldn't see straight.

"It was a nice dinner."

Rory nodded. "The perfect end to a perfect day."

"With the perfect weather."

Rory grinned. "I know you're being sarcastic, but it really is nice to have a storm every once in a while."

"I know what you mean. It's also nice to curl up in bed all day."

"And then read until the light's gone."

"Don't you mean 'get read to'?"

Rory smiled. "Yeah, I guess so."

"It's okay; I liked it."

"Good, cause I did too."

"You're the one who made me do it."

"Maybe."

Jess laughed. "You wanna read some more before we go to sleep?"

"Yes." Rory nodded, and they curled into each other a little more as a breeze was stirred up.

 


	6. Messages

Lorelai woke up a few days later to the ringing of the telephone. Not eager to reach it, she groaned, pulled herself from the bed, and dressed slowly. By the time she was ready to face the world—at least all the way to Luke's—and made her way downstairs, the message light on the answering machine was blinking, claiming her tape was full. Sure that the light was lying, she pressed play. 

_"Mom. Look, I…I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't recognize my voice."_

Lorelai pressed next quickly. It was Rory's message from right before she'd shown up a week ago. She shuddered, slightly, remembering how she hadn't seen her daughter for nearly a year, and waited for the next message.

_"Uh, Lorelai? Uh, Lorelai Gilmore?"_

Lorelai pressed delete. A halting, unfamiliar male voice on her answering machine? Gone. Next message.

_"Mom. It's Saturday. Eight in the morning. You promised you'd be up by now, you wanted to spend a few hours with me before my first appointment. Jess and I just got up—I'll wait for you in the lobby for half an hour before I head to Luke's. Love ya."_

Lorelai cringed. Rory was right, she'd promised to be up by eight. She checked her watch—half past eleven. Hurriedly she pressed the next button.

_"Mom! I'm leaving for Luke's now! Get up!"_

Assuming that the rest of the tape was the same, she pressed delete until her inbox read one—the first message—and hurried from the house.

"Lukey, where's my baby?" she asked, running into the diner minutes later and grinding to a halt in between Luke and a customer.

Luke rolled his eyes. "She and Jess went to the doctor's— _half an hour late_ —after waiting for you for three hours. And move, you're in the way."

Lorelai grumbled, but moved to Luke's side, where she proceeded to whine and moan about Rory.

* * *

"I'm nervous," Rory admitted, throwing down a four-month-old  _People_  magazine and shoving her hands under her thighs.

"Don't be nervous, it's routine," Jess responded from next to her, not looking up from the  _Parenting_  magazine he was flipping through idly.

" _Look_  at me when you say that," she moaned.

He rolled his eyes, but obligingly lowered his magazine. "It's a completely routine check-up. You're just meeting a new OB-GYN, since you left the last one in…Seattle."

"Thank you, that was a much better tone," she smiled, referring to his soft tone of voice. He rolled his eyes again.

"You're gonna be really good at this parenting stuff."

"God, I hope so." She pulled her hands from under her thighs and starting shaking them. Without looking up from his magazine, he handed her the  _People_  she'd thrown on the table. She took it, not paying attention, and started to flip pages quickly.

"Rory Gilmore?" A pretty blonde woman called in a Southern accent. Rory stiffened, but Jess stood.

"Come on," he said, pulling her from her seat with one hand, and then wrapping it around her. "Everything's gonna be okay."

* * *

"I'm bored," Lorelai announced, her chin in her hands and her elbows resting on the counter.

 "Lorelai!" Luke hissed, halfway across the diner taking an order.

"Well, I am," she said defensively, twirling around on the stool to face him.

"You don't have to announce it," he murmured as he passed her quickly, heading to the kitchen.

"Yes, I do!" she yelled, just because he'd whispered.

"Go home and watch TV," he implored, breezing past her again.

"There's nothing good on," she complained, watching as he took another order.

"Watch a movie."

"Not in the mood." She once again rested her elbows on the counter, watching as he brewed another cup of coffee. He sighed and faced her.

"Read a book."

"Like what?"

He thought for a second, and then sighed again, frustrated. "Go help Sookie at the Inn." He was getting desperate.

"She and Jackson and the kids all went to Providence for some vegetable convention."

"Go to the Inn!"

"Marlana's got it for the day."

"Shouldn't you help her out?"

She shrugged. "I like Marlana. I think I'm still mispronouncing her name, though."

He nodded. "What  _do_  you want to do, then?"

She thought, and then grinned as an idea seized her. She and Luke had been keeping their relationship low-key, so that no one except Rory and Jess knew that they were…anything more than usual.

She leaned across the counter, grabbed the lapels of Luke's flannel shirt, and pulled him towards her, for a mind-bending, earth-shattering kiss, right in the middle of the diner.

As she released him, and slowly settled herself back onto her stool, she grinned wickedly.

Well. Now they would know.

* * *

"D'you think we should have asked what the sex is?" Rory asked for the thousandth time, turning to Jess in the ticket line at the airport where they were waiting to get Jess a boarding pass to send him off to California. Baylor had called the day before; apparently, Jess had another movie option, so he was going to meet with the studio.

"Only if you want to," he repeated a bit wearily, having answered a thousand times.

"Okay." She turned back to the front of the line, watching as a perky redhead threw someone's bag onto the conveyer belt and called for the next person. "Oh!" She suddenly turned back to Jess, and threw her arms around him. "Have I mentioned that I'm going to miss you?"

"Why, no, you haven't. I was starting to get worried." Jess leaned down and softly kissed Rory, who deepened the kiss, causing him to drop his carry-on bag and wrap his arms around her.

"A- _hem!_  A- _HEM!_ " The perky redhead cleared her throat extra loudly, and Rory and Jess jumped apart. Her expression changed from one of annoyance to a very cheerful one as they looked at her. "Next?" she called sweetly. They obligingly walked forward.

* * *

Lorelai paced in front of the diner—Luke had hissed at her and kicked her out fifteen minutes ago, but not before planting another large kiss on her and proceeding to scold about public displays of affection. She paused in her walk, noticing that Luke was taking the orders of a couple seated in the window. She looked up, and grinned, until he looked down, almost unwillingly. She waved, a large, body-rocking wave, swinging both of her arms back and forth, before throwing him kiss after kiss. He struggled to keep from smiling, and even lost the struggle at one point. She stopped in all of her movements, and just stood there, grinning back, basking in the feelings that she had realized for Luke less than a week ago. He stifled a laugh, and his face practically broke out into a grin, and she realized he was doing the same things, basking in the feelings that were running through his body, making them wish the window and the people were gone, and they were all alone.

The woman in the couple waved her hand in front of Luke's face, and he snapped back, finished taking their order, and then headed down the stairs, out of the diner and right next to her.

"You're distracting me," he murmured, half-reproachingly, half-wondering.

"Can I distract you out of work?" she murmured back, playing with the buttons on his shirt, and leaning into him, wanting to be wrapped in his arms.

"Lorelai," he admonished half-heartedly. "I've been out of work enough this week."

"Oh, you're doing well, you can afford it." She waved her hand dismissively, running her hands over his chest.

"Lorelai," he groaned. "I need to work. Go find something else to do."

She pouted. "Well, then, can I see you later?"

He paused, thinking of the fact that Rory would be alone tonight, and for the next few days, and then sighed again. "Maybe."

"Luke," she whined quietly.

"Lorelai," he whined back, imitating her tone perfectly. He struggled not to laugh at the befuddled expression on her face. "I said maybe. We'll talk about it later." He leaned down and surprised her with a kiss brimming with emotion; she had the strange feeling that they were spewing love everywhere, and if any feuding couples were to walk by, they would be bathed in it, and then be ready to reconcile. She grinned at the thought, and was still grinning when they separated.

"Later," he murmured, pecking her quickly on the lips again before heading back into the diner.

Shocked and feeling as though _she_  was now spewing love, she watched him walk up the stairs, and didn't get her voice back until he reached the front door, at which point she lifted both arms in the air and waved them around again. "Later!" she screamed, her complete love for this man—even after only a few days—utterly readable on her face, she was sure.

Luke shook his head as he walked into the diner, but he was grinning, and she recognized the goofy look as one of an unrequited love that had finally been returned…after many, many years. She waved again, blew him a kiss, and finally walked away, turning around every once in a while to see him turning to see her.

* * *

Rory exchanged a long kiss with Jess near the safety check, a kiss full of love and longing, and the sadness of knowing that the week apart would wreak havoc upon their temperaments and sleeping habits.

And then they whispered goodbye, he edged through the metal detector, and she watched as he made his way up the terminal, glancing back every once in a while to see her.

"Mom? Again, I'm talking to your machine." Rory said into her cell-phone minutes later, sitting at a table in an airport café and stirring the rapidly melting marshmallows into her hot chocolate. "I just saw Jess off…he's not gonna be back for at least a week, Baylor said, so I won't have much to do…. He suggested I look up how many more credits I need, and see if I can get into some classes, so I can finally graduate from college. The doctor seemed nice…she's from Tennessee, she said, and she's got the most endearing accent. She says the baby's fine, and if at any point we wish to know the sex, she's glad to oblige." Rory sighed, feeling exhausted. "I think I'm going to putter around Hartford for a while…maybe stop in at Grandma and Grandpa's. I also need some more clothes—I found out yesterday that my  _overalls_  are getting tight. I think I'm talking for too long…but just had to check in…I'll probably be home around four or so, hope you can amuse yourself until then. Love ya."

Rory flipped the cell phone closed, and then noticed, for the first time in a week, that she had a message. Curious, she flipped the phone open again, navigated herself to her voicemail, and played it.

_"Rory? This is Mark."_

She felt as if someone had thrown a large bucket of ice water over her…she shivered at the sound of her ex-boyfriend's voice, speaking as he had only a few months ago, when they'd been happy—or so she'd thought—before this whole dreadful thing with Tristan and France and the CIA. The end of the message mentioned something about coffee in Hartford next week, and she froze, wondering when the message was recorded. Her phone's clock was extremely screwed up, and was telling her it was Wednesday evening, after eleven, when Rory was sure it was Saturday, not long after one in the afternoon. She calculated, quickly, and figured that they had been made Tuesday, the day of the large storm that shook Stars Hollow, and the day after she'd left her cell phone buried in her dresser in her room at Lorelai's house.

Was he here?

_Well, not_ here, Rory thought to herself.  _It's ridiculous to think that he could even be_ near _the airport!_

Even so, she found herself glancing around the tiny café, her eyes lingering on the man in the back corner wearing the New York Mets baseball cap and reading a newspaper.

"One coffee, large, black," a man ordered behind her. She whipped her head around, only to see the back of the man's head. But she'd recognized the voice. Hadn't she?

She watched closely as he walked to the arrangement of sugar and cream and everything else you could ever need with anything from the menu of the small place. Mark had always taken his coffee black—half a cream, two sugars, stirred twenty-five times clockwise, ten times counter-clockwise. He had always been a man of habit, which was one of the things she thrilled at when she first started their relationship. That and the fact that he could keep up with her coffee wise—he wasn't quite a Lorelai, but he was definitely a Lane mixed with a Paris. Her ideal combination.

The man picked up a small package of cream, pulled the lid off halfway, and poured tiny droplets into his cup, before throwing it into the trash can and picking up a packet of sugar. He shook it and flicked it with his middle finger until it was situated the way he liked, and then he ripped it carefully and poured it into the cup. Rory held her breath as he picked up the second packet of sugar, repeated the process with it, and then poured it into his cup.

He glanced around briefly as he threw the empty sugar packets away…too late, Rory realized he was going to look directly into her eyes. He did. There was no sign of hate, love, or  _anything_  in his eyes. He glanced blankly over her protruding stomach with indifference as he began to stir his coffee—he somehow managed to finish the thirty-five stirs in a relatively short amount of time, and he threw the coffee stirrer away and sipped as he walked over to Rory.

She slid slowly from her chair as he approached her, knowing that the coming confrontation was inevitable.

"Let's sit," he suggested as he walked past her, to the other side of the table, "and talk."

She nodded, and settled back into her chair; he did the same.

 


	7. He's Baaack!!

Jess walked out of the airport, his eyes scanning the signs held up by the drivers picking people up. After a minute, he recognized the handwriting on one and grinned at the message.

_Transportation for the loser straight guy who made me gay._

"Baylor!" he grinned, edging through the crowd and scooping his friend into a hug.

"Mariano," she grinned back. "Come. I'm driving you."

Jess plucked her chauffeur hat from her head as they started walking to the parking lot. "Why are you all decked out like Mary Stuart Masterson in  _Some Kind of Wonderful_?" he asked, situating her hat on his head.

"Because my girlfriend looks like Lea Thompson."

"Uh-huh. And when do I get meet Ms. Thompson?"

"Hopefully when you hire her for your next starring role."

"Oh, of course."

* * *

"So…how are you?" Mark asked, sipping his coffee. Rory just sat there, her arms still crossed over her chest.

"I'm okay," she said frostily.

Mark nodded. "I don't blame you for being distant."

"Oh, good.  _You_  don't  _blame_  me."

"Tristan told me everything you've been up to for the past few months."

Rory paused. "Everything?"

"Well…not  _everything_. He told me about the baby." Mark gestured at her stomach with his head. "But he didn't tell me who the father is."

"He doesn't know."

"Oh. Is…is it me?"

Rory snorted. "We never had sex."

"Ohh."

"Di—Did you think it was you?"

Mark shrugged. "I didn't know. You see…." Mark trailed off, and for the first time seemed to realize that he and Rory were in a public place. He leaned in close to her and whispered. "Not here. Do you have a car?"

"I don't trust you enough." Rory shook her head.

"Fine. Your mother's house?"

"Here, or nowhere," Rory said firmly.

"There's too many people around. How about your mom's house?"

"Sure. If you can find Mom's house, I'll meet you there." Rory stood, and gathered her purse and coffee cup. "Whaddya think, an hour? Yeah."

Without waiting for an answer, she stalked from the café and exited the airport.

* * *

Lorelai was sprawled out on her couch, shouting obscenities at Long Duk Dong on the television, when Rory burst into the house and stalked angrily up the stairs.

"Rory?" she called, wondering why her daughter, who had left a message a little over half an hour ago saying she wasn't gonna be home for hours, was running upstairs.

"I'm taking a shower!" Rory called down the stairs before slamming the door to the bathroom.

"Okay," Lorelai said hesitantly, before turning her attention back to the movie.

"Where is au-to-mo-beele?"

* * *

"Okay, so since you're here for another week, judging from your plane ticket, I figure tonight we'll eat in, and tomorrow we'll eat out." Baylor walked into Jess' old apartment, Jess trailing silently behind her. She disappeared into the kitchen while he sank silently into the couch.

"I was thinking either Chinese or Greek…I can't decide. Ideas?" She looked up from the take-out menus as she entered her living room; he stared blankly at her. "Mariano?"

"Did you see what they offered?" he asked in a reverent tone.

"Oh." She sat next to him and swung her legs onto the couch, until she was sitting cross-legged and facing him. "It's just Hollywood. Are you seriously thinking about taking the job?"

" _You_ want to work in Hollywood."

She paused, her argument broken. "Ooh, what about the girl?" Her eyes lit up as she remembered.

"God, Rory," he groaned, slapping his head with one hand. "What am I gonna do about Rory?"

"I dunno. So, Greek or Chinese?"

"Italian. I'm calling Rory." Jess pushed himself from the couch and headed into the kitchen to find the phone. Baylor remained on the couch, going over the conversation mentally.

"'Greek or Chinese?' 'Oh, well, I'll have Italian, cause I want it, and you'll do whatever I want.' Ugh. Men. I'm  _so_  glad I'm a lesbian."

* * *

Luke put Caesar in charge of the diner and made his way towards Maple Street, and his new girlfriend.

He shuddered. "Girlfriend". What a scary word. "Girlfriend" said "commitment". "Girlfriend" said "relationship". "Girlfriend" said "Move out of your stupid one person apartment and single bed and move in with me".

Then again, "make-out partner" was a little sleazy.

Some twenty-something guy was pacing Lorelai's porch, Luke noticed as he walked up to it.

"Can I help you?" he asked harshly. The guy jumped and turned to face Luke.

"Uh, no. I mean, maybe."

Luke stalked up the steps and faced the guy. "Well? Which is it? No or maybe?"

The guy inhaled and then exhaled sharply. "Does Rory Gilmore's mother live here?" he asked in a rush.

Luke crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. "Why do you want to know?"

"Okay, so she  _does_  live here."

"No, I didn't say that."

"But you did get all defensive, so she does."

"No, she doesn't."

"Yes, she does."

"Nope, sorry. This is  _my_ house." Luke glared at the guy and stalked into the house. The guy just stared as the door was slammed in his face.

"Luke?" Lorelai asked, sitting up straight as he walked past the living room and into the kitchen.

"Yeah, it's me," he grumbled from the kitchen. She distinctly heard pots and pans making noise. She grinned.

"What are you doing?" She turned Sixteen Candles off and waited impatiently for his answer.

"Making dinner."

She squealed quietly and jumped from the couch. "You're so sexy when you cook." She grinned as she eased herself until she was sitting on the kitchen table. Luke turned around from the sink and glared.

"Get down from there."

"No," she said gleefully. "But it's so cute that you think I would."

Luke shook his head. "Stop calling me cute and sexy."

"Oh, but you are," she announced, grabbing him around the waist and pulling him towards her as he started to walk past her.

"No, I'm not," he half-grinned, trying to pretend to struggle but failing.

"You really are." Lorelai leaned up to kiss Luke.

"I'm out of the shower," Rory announced, coming down the stairs, "and I'm going to wander around town for a while." Rory walked into the empty living room. "Mom?" she asked.

"In here," Lorelai called wearily. Rory headed in the direction of her mother's voice to see Luke at the stove and Lorelai sitting on the table.

"Oh. Luke. Hi." Rory stalked to the fridge and grabbed a bottled water. "By the way." She sighed and leaned against a counter. "Have either of you seen Mark?"

Lorelai slid from the table and stared at her daughter. " _Mark_? Why would  _Mark_  be here?"

"No reason." Rory shrugged.

"There's a reason, and you're not telling me what it is." Lorelai said.

"No, there's no reason."

"Ye—"

"I think I saw him outside." Luke interrupted Lorelai. Lorelai glared, while Rory went pale.

"Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap," she grabbed a coat and flew through the back door.

"Did you interrupt me?" Lorelai asked, still glaring at Luke.

"Yes, I did," Luke answered, half-staring her down while still cooking. She grinned.

"You know, you shouldn't interrupt me."

"I can interrupt you if I want. I'm your sole source of food."

She grinned again and slid from the table. "You're right."

As Luke turned around, she kissed him, fiercely. He grinned through the kiss.

"Well, I'll try to interrupt you more often," he mumbled, his lips still attached to hers.

"You do that."

* * *

"Mark! Mark Miller!" Rory called as she stalked up to a brunette strolling dejectedly down the streets of Stars Hollow. He paused when he heard her voice.

"Mark, turn around, dammit!"

He grimaced at the tone in her voice and slowly swung around to face her. She ground to a halt in front of him.

"What the hell are you doing here? No, I don't mean  _here_  here," Rory held up a hand as Mark opened his mouth to argue, "I mean _here_. In Stars Hollow. In Hartford. In  _Connecticut_. What the hell makes you think that after all the crap you put me through that I would want to see you again?"

"Look, I know—"

She held up her hand again. "No, I don't want to hear it. What the hell kind of man drags his girlfriend, the girl he  _says_ that he  _loves_ , through the goddamn mud, flying her off to stupid France and then stupid New York and England and then New York  _again_  and then disappears and won't talk to her anymore? What the fuck kind of man  _does_ that, Mark?"

He sighed. "Just let me explain—"

"No, I don't care. I don't care.  _I don't care_. And that's the truth." She smiled a little. "There's no reason for me to care anymore, because I've fallen in love, and he's a wonderful man, and there's no way— _no way_ —that he would pull the same crap you did." She unconsciously ran her hands over her stomach, remembering her conversation with Jess from a few days before. Mark, noticing her far off dreamy look, sighed and hung his head.

"God, Rory, I never thought I would do this. And I certainly didn't mean to."

She slammed her hands to her sides, balling them into fists as she did so. She glared at her ex-boyfriend. "What the hell do you mean, 'you didn't mean to'? How do you  _do_ something like that, even without meaning to?"

"They thought I was getting too close to you," he said quietly.

" _Who?_ " Rory demanded.

"My bosses. The…government."

Rory paused as she remembered what Jess had said about Mark and Tristan. "You really work for the CIA?" she asked.

"No," Mark said too quickly. She stared him down, and he melted. "Yes."

"But…what do you do?"

"You ever see The Bourne Identity?"

Rory nodded.

"Well…I'm like that. Only, I work for the CIA, and they're not trying to kill me."

"Huh." Rory shifted her gaze from Mark's face to a tree over his shoulder. "Huh."

"Yeah. And they thought I was getting too close to you, so I had to throw you off the track, 'cause…something. That's pretty much where I black out."

"You…black out?" Rory asked the tree.

"Yeah. I've got selective amnesia, kinda. I can't remember anything after my boss told me I was getting too close to you. Tris told me that you were pregnant, and you'd come back here. He also said you might be a little pissed off."

"Well…I am!" Rory looked back at Mark. "You treated me like crap."

"I know," he said quietly, his eyes on the ground. "And I'm sorry. I just had to set things straight."

"Well…things aren't exactly  _straight_ , but…I don't think you deserve to die anymore," Rory said softly. Mark half-grinned.

"Well, that's good." He looked up and smiled. She gave him a tight smile.

"But…don't come near me. Ever again. Okay?"

He ducked his head and nodded. "Yeah. I understand," he said quietly.

"Okay." She turned to leave, but then called back to him. "Goodbye, Mark Miller. You were…an interesting boyfriend, to say the least."

"Goodbye, Rory Gilmore," he called back. "You were a wonderful sport."

She grinned, and disappeared around a corner.

* * *

"Rory, Rory, oh, my God, Rory!" Lorelai called, running from the house and practically knocking Rory down in the front yard. "You won't believe what Jess just told me!"

"What? Jess?"

Lorelai jumped up and down, holding Rory's arms so that she bounced too. "Big news! Big news!  _Such_  big news!" Lorelai squealed.

Luke appeared in the doorway to the house, talking on the phone.

"Luke?" Rory asked, turning to the older man, her mother squealing behind her.

"Here she is, Jess." Luke handed Rory the phone and grinned. Rory took the appliance hesitantly.

"Jess?" she asked.

"Rory. The studio  _loves_ the picture. They've signed me for three more."

"Oh, my God, that's great!" Rory grinned at Lorelai, who was still bouncing on the grass.

"That's not even the best part. They've offered me seventy five million dollars for all of them."

"That's…that's twenty-five million each movie," Rory stated, shocked.

"Yep."

Rory could hear Jess' grin over the phone. "$75 million dollars for three movies."

"Isn't it  _great_?"

"Yeah. Yeah, it's great." Rory grinned. Seventy five million dollars, and her and Jess' little family would be set for life. " _So_  great," Rory enthused.

"Yeah, it's such an amazing opportunity. There's just  _one_  problem…." Jess cleared his throat uncomfortably.

"Uh-oh."

"I…I'd have to move out here for at least a year."

"Oh," was all Rory could manage, staring across the yard at Lorelai and Luke, who were grinning happily.


	8. Cutting Loose

Rory impatiently tapped her foot, one hand tracing her coffee cup, the other hand tracing a circle around her swollen belly-button. Luke passed by her stool and glanced at her. Then he glanced at the coffeepot in his hand, back at her, and then walked behind the counter.

"Are you sure I'm giving you decaf?" he asked quietly, startling her.

"I'm sure," she answered when she felt her heartbeat slowing.

"Why are you so jumpy?"

She just gave him a "why do you think?" look.

He thought quickly, and then nodded.

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"When's he calling?"

"Tonight, hopefully." Rory sighed, tapping both pairs of fingernails on the counter.

"And when do you have to be in Hartford?" he asked, placing his hands over hers to stop the tapping.

"We," she corrected automatically, pulling her hands from under his and placing them on her stomach.

"We?" he asked worriedly.

"We." She nodded.

He groaned. "Why is she making me go?"

Rory gestured to her belly. "They don't know, and they won't flip as badly with non-family there."

"Oh." He crossed his arms and leaned on the counter. She stared at him for a minute.

"Am I gonna get my order? I'm eating for two, you know."

"Oh." He stood and exchanged the coffeepot in his hand for a decaf one. "Coming right up," he said, pouring.

"Thank you," she smiled as he walked off. Once he was gone, she resumed her tracing of both the coffee cup and her navel.

* * *

Lorelai paced around the living room, her phone in her hand. She stopped walking a foot from the fireplace and stared at the phone. The numbers were staring her in the face, taunting. She groaned.

"You suck," she said with quiet anger, throwing the phone onto the couch. She wasn't sure if she was talking to the phone or herself. She stared at the electrical appliance for a few minutes.

"You suck,  _and_  you're weak," she groaned, throwing herself onto the phone. This time she was sure she was talking to herself.

"You can do this." She tried to pep herself as she slowly dialed. "It's just—"

"Rory?" a distinctively male voice asked, pushing the front door open.

"Jess?" Lorelai asked, silently thanking God for the interruption. She turned the phone off and returned it to its hook as she walked into the foyer.

"Where's Rory?" he asked as she came into his view.

"Luke's. Aren't you supposed to be in California?" she asked suspiciously, narrowing her eyes at him.

"The house is ready. I thought I'd surprise her. Do you guys have dinner with your parents tonight?"

"And you, too, now."

His eyes widened and he shook his head emphatically. She ignored him.

"Why do you ask?"

"Lizzie's expecting us in New York tomorrow, and Jimmy's expecting us back in California Saturday."

It was Lorelai's turn to shake her head.

"Chris is expecting you in Boston as soon as possible."

"Rory's…dad?"

"Biologically, yes. Emotionally…."

"Right." Jess nodded. "I've got one of those. So, uh, I'll call Lizzie, and tell her to expect us…Saturday?" He looked to Lorelai for approval. She nodded.

"And get Jimmy to expect you Sunday."

"Gotta switch out the plane tickets," he said, more to himself than her. But as she was watching him, something about the way he was talking bothered her. She narrowed her eyes again.

"Just how many plane tickets do you have?"

He glanced up at her, with a look of a kid who'd gotten his hand caught in the cookie jar. Seeing her suspicious look, he ducked his head again.

"Jess…." She used her Mom voice. He looked up.

"Uh…I think it's six."

"What did you do?"

"Oh, nothing, I—"

She ignored him— _once again_ —and ran past him to the front door. When she pulled it open, four young adults—two familiar girls, one familiar guy, and an unfamiliar girl—turned to look expectantly at her. Lorelai looked back at Jess, who shrugged.

"I had some time. I thought Rory might wanna see 'em all again."

Lorelai grinned at Jess, and then stepped outdoors to envelop first Lane, and then Paris into a hug. Jess followed her out of the house and stood next to Baylor as Lorelai greeted Dave.

* * *

Rory's cell phone, sitting on the counter next to her plate, tinkled out a little tune. She picked it up and inquisitively looked at the Caller ID. Luke shot her a look as she opened the phone and put it to her ear, but as she greeted her mom, he nodded and continued serving his customers.

"Mom?"

"Rory." Lorelai was grinning so hard, she was sure that Rory could see it, across town.

"Wow. You sound happy. What's going on? Dad cancel?"

Lorelai's grin faltered for a minute, but pretty much remained. "No. But, uh, someone showed up here."

"Oh, can I talk to him?" Rory asked, her restlessness seeping into her voice. She'd missed Jess, like she did whenever he traveled across the country.

"Sure. I'll let him tell you the news."

"What? What news?" But Lorelai had already handed the phone over.

"Hey, Ror."

"Hey." Her voice immediately softened when she heard his.

"I missed you," he said softly, turning away from the large crowd in Lorelai's living room. They all looked at each other and grinned. Rory grinned at his words.

"I missed you, too."

Luke glanced in her direction, walking by, and stifled a smile at the look on her face.

"But what's this about news?" She was ready to get back to business.

"Well. I've got a little news."

She rolled her eyes. "Duh. Just what exactly is it?"

"You and I are expected at Lizzie's Saturday, and then back in Cali by Sunday."

"I love the fact that you call it Cali." She grinned.

"Get that mocking smile off your face," he commanded. She continued grinning.

"What mocking smile? I don't have a mocking smile."

"Yes, you do. But that's not why I called."

"Actually, you didn't call, Mom did."

"Details, details. Do you want to know the rest of the news?"

"Is it the fact that you are now accompanying us to Hartford tonight, and we're heading to Boston tomorrow?"

"No, Lorelai told me that. Do you want to know the news or not?"

"I wanna know, I wanna know!" She bounced on the stool a few times, feeling like a little kid.

"I brought a few guests with me."

"'A few'? How many is 'a few'?"

"Four."

Rory's eyes widened in surprise. "Oh, really? And just who are these guests?"

"Well, Baylor."

"Right."

"Paris."

"You found Paris?" Rory almost squealed.

"Yes, I did. It wasn't that hard, seeing as you had her address."

"Oh, right."

"But I did find two other people."

"Ooh, who?"

"Lane and Dave."

"Oh, my God!" Rory yelled. Luke shot her a questioning look. She waved him off. "Where are they?"

"Right here."

"Mom's house?"

"Yep."

Rory squealed. "I'll be right there." She slammed the phone shut and bounced on the stool a few more times. Luke walked over and helped her down. She grabbed him in a hug as her feet touched the floor. "He found Lane and Dave!"

"Good." Luke nodded, not knowing what else to say.

"Good? It's great! I'm rushing over to Mom's house right now. I'll see you in about an hour, for dinner!" She waved and ran from the diner. Luke glanced at an interested patron next to him.

"He found Lane and Dave," he shrugged, and poured some more coffee for the woman.

* * *

"Okay, a few ground rules." Rory turned from her spot facing the elder Gilmores' front door and faced the crowd. "Let me tell my story first. Baylor, it'd probably be better if you wait a while to introduce yourself. You, too, Lane and Dave. Paris, they know you. Mom, Luke, you guys can tell your story after they yell me out for the pregnancy. Jess, you…don't talk." 

The other seven nodded, and Rory spun back around to face the front door. She raised her hand to ring the doorbell and then stopped.

"You know what? Let me get in the middle of the group. You know, maybe just cover up the pregnancy thing." Rory edged her way to the middle of the group, and pushed Lane and Dave together right in front of her. She peeked over their shoulders at Luke, who was now standing at the front of the group. "Ring the doorbell." She nodded.

Luke pushed the button and flinched. He'd met Emily Gilmore before, and he'd heard tales about her to know that he should probably be flinching. Especially with the group he was standing in.

"Well, Lo—Oh, my goodness." Emily had opened the door. She glanced over the small crowd on her front step and immediately turned back into the house. "Richard!" she screamed. "Get out here!"

"Hi, Mom," Lorelai smiled, edging her body closer to Luke's.

"Hi, Grandma." Rory pushed Lane and Dave closer to each other in front of her stomach. Emily rolled her eyes and turned to yell for her husband again, but he appeared at her side.

"What is it, Emily?"

She gestured wordlessly at the group in front of her, and then massaged her temples.

"Well, my goodness!"

"Hi, Grandpa."

"Rory! Where have you been?"

She shook her head. "It's a long story."

"We've got time," Emily spoke up, now staring curiously at her granddaughter. Rory glanced at Lorelai, who smiled reassuringly, and then at Jess, who squeezed her hand and grinned. Rory nodded and walked forward.

Emily gasped.

Richard's smile disappeared, and he let out a half-groan. "Oh, no, not again."

Emily sighed. "Won't you all come in? And  _explain_ ," she ended pointedly, gesturing them inside. As Lorelai walked past her, Emily grabbed her arm and pulled her into the dining room. Richard led the other seven into the sitting room.

"Who's the father?"

Lorelai sighed. "Mom, why don't you just let Rory tell you?"

"Because I want to know right now. I want to know exactly which one of those… _boys_  I should refuse to let into my house."

"It's complicated, okay? Just listen to her story."

"I'm not kidding, Lorelai! I want to know who ruined my perfect granddaughter," Emily hissed.

"He's not here, alright? And it's  _extremely_ complicated. It's like a movie. Rory wants to tell you. It was her idea to come here tonight."

"And just whose idea was it to bring six extra guests?" Emily folded her arms across her chest and narrowed her eyes at her daughter.

"It was Jess'. If you wanna kill somebody, kill  _him_."

"Jess? That horrible, nasty boy who broke Rory's arm?"

"Yeah, that's him." It was Lorelai's turn to massage her temples. "Look, Mom, it's taken Rory a long time to get where she is, and I personally think she's incredibly strong to come face  _you_  right now, so I think you should give her the benefit of the doubt. It won't take long, if she doesn't go into too much detail."

"What?"

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "Just hear her out, okay? They're in the sitting room, right?" Lorelai grabbed her mother's arm and steered her in the direction the others had gone. Emily opened her mouth to protest. "Uh-uh, benefit of the doubt. Ah, here we are!" Lorelai softly pushed her mother into a seat next to Richard, and then looked around for her own seat. Rory was standing, Lane was basically sitting on Dave, Baylor and Jess were uncomfortably squished next to them, and Luke and Paris were sitting next to Richard. Emily had taken the only empty seat. Lorelai silently debated pulling a dining table chair into the sitting room, and then gave up and settled on Luke's lap. Emily shot her a look and then took the champagne Richard handed her. All nine stared expectantly at Rory. She cowered a little, and then took a deep breath and steeled her nerves.

"It all started when I met this nice guy named Mark Miller."

Lorelai groaned was starting at the beginning.

Paris groaned. Mark. What an asshole.

Lane continued to stare expectantly. She was still clueless about what had happened with her friend.

"Well, it turns out Mark was an ass, but I was pretty blind, cause I was really infatuated. He restricted what I did, who I talked to, who I spent time with…it wasn't pretty. Everyone around me tried to tell me that I was being an idiot, letting him control my life, but I didn't see it. But," Rory sighed, "the big thing is what happened seven months ago."

"What was that?" Emily asked when Rory paused.

"He…disappeared. Completely. Used a couple minions to cart me back and forth between New York and France for a few days, but after I caught up with Jess again, I got an idea. To be…artificially inseminated."

Emily paused. She wasn't sure she'd heard correctly. Did Rory say 'artificially inseminated'?

Lane's brain started working overtime. So Jess  _wasn't_  the father. But…why did he and Rory keep staring at each other like that?

Paris nodded. She knew about that. She was trying to figure out the reason Jess was shopping for a  _house_  in California. A single guy doesn't want a house. But a guy infatuated with a pregnant woman who's infatuated with him…that's a different story.

"And, so…I did it. And…it took. Four out of five pregnancy tests can't be wrong." Rory chuckled. "And then…I went on the run. Chopped my hair off," she twirled a short strand around her finger, "stole Jess' car, and drove off. Changed my identity four times. Paid with only cash. Worked four jobs. Until, one day…I got news. From Jess."

He smiled at her, and she smiled back, briefly.

"Mark and his main accomplice were gone. Completely. They couldn't bother me anymore. So…I came home. Found Mom. Told her the story. She…told me to tell Jess how I felt about him." She grinned. "I did. He returned the feelings. We moved back here."

"My turn?" Lorelai asked. Rory nodded, so Lorelai cleared her throat and walked over to her daughter. "Rory and Jess moved into the Inn. Together. But, I'm told, nothing happened."

"Nothing happened," Jess spoke up.

Emily rolled her eyes. Like she believed that.

"It's true," Rory added. Lorelai slipped an arm around her waist and squeezed.

Emily paused. Maybe she believed that.

" _Any_ way. Back to my story. There was a big storm. Luke and I made out."

Luke groaned and lowered his head into his hands while Lorelai grinned at him.

"It was fun. But, you know, it was a big deal. It's been a long time coming."

"You can say  _that_ again," Rory, Emily, Lane, and Jess all muttered. Lorelai glared, and then her face fell back into a grin.

"It's been a long time coming," she repeated. "And then, Jess went back to California for a week. Baylor?" Lorelai gestured to the only woman who hadn't spoken since they'd entered the house. Baylor cleared her throat and stood.

"I'm Baylor Clarke. I used to date Jess, but then I realized I wasn't into guys as much as I was…into girls."

Emily's and Richard's eyes widened.

"And so now I'm just his friend, who can get him to do…pretty much anything. So, we made a movie. And people liked it so much that the producers wanted us to do more. And offered a whole hell of a lot of money for it."

"It's an amazing opportunity," Jess spoke up. "It's seventy-five million for three movies. That's a wonderful nest egg for…a family."

Rory crossed the room and took Baylor's vacated seat, next to Jess. She placed her hand in his, and they smiled at each other. Lane squealed.

"I knew it! I knew it!" She leaned over and wrapped both Jess and Rory in a hug. "I could tell by the way you were looking at each other!"

Paris jumped from her seat across the room. "You're moving to California!" She pointed an accusing finger at Rory, who nodded. "You're moving to California!" Paris happily settled back into her seat.

"What? You're moving to California?" Emily asked, staring at her granddaughter. "Why?"

"Well, because. Jess has got a wonderful job, and we love each other, and we'll make a nice little family out there."

"But what about your family  _here_?" Emily asked. "We've just found you after over a year, and you're pregnant with our great-grandchild"—she shuddered slightly at the word—"and you're moving all the way across the country? What about us? What about your mother?" Emily shot out the last one as a desperate attempt to get Rory to reconsider.

Lorelai scoffed. "Seventy-five  _million_  dollars, Mom. To be a single pregnant woman at the age of twenty-three—without a father to pay child support—seventy-five million dollars is heaven. And plane tickets are relatively easy to get."

"But she shouldn't be flying so late in her pregnancy!" Emily sprang to her feet to face her daughter, gesturing towards Rory. "It could be dangerous."

"Well, then, we'll just have to fly to see her." Lorelai said calmly.

Emily stuttered, caught. "Ugh, fine." She sank back into her seat, and stole Richard's champagne glass to compensate for her empty one. "But I don't approve of this."

"Well, that's too bad, because we're both adults," Rory spoke up. "And we don't have to do anything you say, so there." She finished so childishly, she felt like she should stick her tongue out…and she almost did.

Emily rolled her eyes. "I don't think adults disappear for a year at a time, and then show up pregnant."

"I explained that. It's over, now. I'm in a committed, loving relationship, and we're going to continue to grow and prosper in our love while living in a house together three thousand miles away."

Everyone else in the room looked strangely at Rory, who blushed and shrugged.

"I was watching  _Oprah_."

"Oprah or Uma, I don't care. I don't want you moving to California." Emily shook her head.

"Okay, first of all—did you just make a joke?" Lorelai asked. Emily just glared. "All-righty-then. Second of all—there is absolutely no way that you are going to keep my daughter from leaving if she wants to. I whole-heartedly support her decision, and I have a feeling that if you want to continue to have a relationship with her, you should support her decision also."

"Can I interject here?" Dave, the only one slightly thus far, asked, raising his arm slightly.

"It's not school, honey," Lane said quietly, patting his knee. He rolled his eyes and lowered his arm.

"Fine. I just want to say: Rory's one of the most together people I know. And Jess…well, he seems much more together. He tracked all of us down, bought our tickets out here, arranged for hotels and transportation. All for Rory, who he obviously loves, and who obviously loves him. If anyone deserves a chance to prove that they can make it, away from their family, no less, it's these two." Satisfied, Dave nodded and sank back into silence. Lane smiled at him and patted his knee again. Jess grinned at him, and Rory mouthed, "Thank you."

"Well. I suppose…if you absolutely  _must_  move to California…it's better to move with the prospect of a good life," Emily said.

Lorelai smiled. "Thank you, Mom."

"Yes." Emily offered a small half-smile, and then abruptly stood up. "Let's see about getting enough dinner for all of us, shall we?"

* * *

"What an ordeal," Lorelai groaned as the eight of them trouped out of the elder Gilmore house two hours later.

"I think it was handled beautifully," Baylor grinned. Jess pushed her shoulder.

"You would. You're such a masochist."

"Masochists are highly underrated, I'll have you know," she shot back, fluffing her hair. Jess shoved her again.

"Children, let's behave," Paris commanded, stepping between the two friends.

"Yes, ma'am," Jess saluted her, stopping in his tracks. Baylor rolled her eyes and walked behind him to push him from the back. They continued hitting each other childishly, and Paris continued scolding. Rory and Lane, walking arm in arm, grinned.

"He's going to make such a great father," Rory commented.

"Oh, an absolutely  _wonderful_  one, if that fight's any indication." Lane gestured with her head at the three. Dave, walking behind them, said, "He's getting his ass kicked, and by a girl. I'm gonna help." He ran off.

"Ah. So wonderfully sexist," Rory commented, watching as Dave ran up behind Paris and pushed. Baylor had Jess in a headlock.

"Yeah, but he fights like a little girl, so I let it go."

Paris had turned around and shoved Dave into Baylor and Jess, causing Baylor to release Jess. Dave grabbed Jess' arm to steady himself and ended up pulling both guys down. Baylor and Paris high-fived.

"Shall we save them?" Lane asked.

"Hmm. Saved by a pregnant girl." Rory grinned. "Let's help 'em up and shove 'em back down."

"Perfect." Lane and Rory walked over to their respective partners with looks of pity on their faces. Lorelai and Luke watched as the girls shoved the boys onto the ground.

"Are you sure that having Rory and Jess living together around those four is such a good idea?" Luke asked.

"Oh, definitely. They're cutting loose, having fun…they've got no worries. It's perfect."

The boys snuck up behind the celebrating girls and smashed a snowball into each of their heads. The girls screamed and started running after the boys, who tripped and fell face-first into a snow bank.

"Perfect." Luke nodded.

* * *

"Okay, who is this again?" Baylor asked four hours later, as the minivan Jess had rented at the airport was pulling into a driveway in Boston.

"Rory's dad," Lane repeated for the fifteenth time, rolling her eyes.

Baylor shook her head. "You've got a messed up family, Rory."

"Thanks, Baylor," Rory said, climbing from the passenger side. Paris and Baylor climbed from the middle and Lane and Dave appeared from the very back. Jess got out of the driver's seat and said, "Okay, someone else is driving this godforsaken thing to New York. There is absolutely no way I am driving this stupid minivan another mile."

"It's not cool enough for ya, huh?" Rory asked, draping herself over one of his arms. He tried to stifle a smile, but didn't succeed. Rory laughed.

"Who's there?" a female voice called into the darkness, opening the door of the house they were standing in front of slightly. Rory's smile faded as she recognized her father's wife.

"Uh, Sherry?" she asked, walking forward, pulling Jess with her. The other four followed at a distance.

"Yes?" Sherry said stiffly, standing up straighter in the open doorway.

"It's me. Rory."

"Oh. Rory." Sherry glanced over Rory's stomach and the five young adults with her. "Come in. I'll get Christopher." The older woman gestured vaguely toward the living room and walked off. The group piled into the stiff room and found places to sit, Baylor opting to sit on the floor and Lane opting to sit on Dave again. After a minute, a very harried Chris entered the room and started when he saw the large group.

"Oh! There's quite a few of you."

Rory nodded and stood, again pulling Jess with her. Chris started again.

"Wow. When your mother said you had news…I didn't think that was it." Rory's father gestured to her stomach with a pained expression on his face. "Like mother, like daughter, I suppose."

Rory's formerly easy face hardened as she looked her father in the eyes for the first time in years.

"You have no idea what I've gone through," she said calmly, evenly, through her teeth. Her hold on Jess' hand tightened, and he reached a hand and touched her shoulder, giving her more resolve. "I have been through hell the past year and a half, and the only good thing to come out of it is this child. But there's no way you could know that, is there? In order to know that, you'd have to know me."

"I  _do_  know you," Chris started, but Rory cut him off.

"No, you don't. You've hardly talked to me for years. You've been too busy with your new daughter, your new life. You missed my high-school graduation. You don't know the hell I went through with my last boyfriend, and you missed what would have been my college graduation."

"You didn't—"

"No, I didn't. But do you know why? Do you know why I dropped out of my last month of Yale? Do you know why I'm pregnant? Do you know why I'm going to New York tomorrow, or why I'm moving to California after that? No. You don't. And since you don't seem to care—since you haven't seemed to notice that I've disappeared from your life—then I think I'm going to leave again. Only this time, I'm not going to be so quick to come back." Rory turned to leave, and noticed that the rest of the group, save Jess, had already exited to the car. Jess squeezed her hand, and she faced her father once again. "Don't expect to know your only grandchild."

With that, she spun on her heel and exited the Boston home, pulling Jess with her. He glared at Christopher until she slammed the front door.

Chris, shocked, sank onto the first step of the stairs in his home. Sherry leaned against a doorjamb.

"Well. That went well."

Chris glared at her, and stalked upstairs.

* * *

"That was wonderful, Rory, really. Loaded with emotion," Baylor glanced in the rearview mirror before turning back to the road.

 "Thanks," Rory muttered, her face buried in Jess' shoulder. Lane, on her other side, laid a hand on her back.

"Aw, it was just what's been coming to him for years. I know it was hard, though."

Rory wordlessly reached a hand behind her and clutched Lane's hand. Lane squeezed gently. Paris, sitting in the middle again, reached back a hand and patted Rory's shoulder. Rory smiled at the show of affection.

Dave, sitting shotgun, sensed the need for a change of subject. "So. What are we doing for the rest of the night?"

"Driving to New York," Jess shrugged.

"Does your mom have enough room for us?"

"No, but we've still got a hotel suite."

"There's not enough room in a hotel suite for six people," Lane spoke up.

Dave nodded. "There's hardly enough room for four people."

Jess groaned. "I got a suite, I thought it would be enough. It was insanely expensive, even for one night, and so we're not changing the airplane tickets and flying back to Cali tomorrow."

"Does your mom have enough room for the two of us? We can send the other four to the hotel," Rory said quietly. Jess thought for a second, and then nodded.

"It's settled," Lane, who had been watching the exchange, said. "We'll drop Rory and Jess off first, and then we'll go to the hotel. And tomorrow morning we'll go back to Jess' mom's apartment, and then we'll head to the airport at four."

"Sounds good to me." Baylor nodded, and the others followed suit. "Good." She turned her attention back to the road.

* * *

"Bye, guys," Jess waved, and then lifted his and Rory's bag onto his shoulder. Rory settled into his other shoulder, and they walked into Liz Mariano's apartment building as the minivan sped off.

"I'm meeting your mom. This is kind of exciting," Rory said. Jess shook his head.

"It's not gonna be exciting meeting Lizzie. She's just…not exciting."

"I'm not excited cause I think she'll be exciting. I'm excited because this is your  _mother_. It's a big deal."

"Whatever you say," Jess followed Rory onto the waiting elevator and pressed the button for the tenth floor.

"Yes, and you better remember that."

Jess rolled his eyes, and she grinned and kissed him.

They stepped from the car a minute later, and walked down the hardwood hallway to a white door with '10E' posted on it and a blue "Welcome" mat.

"Welcoming," Rory said stupidly, causing Jess to roll his eyes again as he knocked on the door. He'd used a key to enter the building, but he felt it would be better to knock before entering his mother's apartment.

"Just a minute!" a female voice yelled just inside the door.

"She's cleaning," Jess said matter-of-factly. "She knows we're supposed to be here, and she's cleaning."

"Who else would be knocking on her door so late at night?"

Jess shook his head. "I don't wanna know."

"Jess!" Rory slapped his shoulder. He grinned.

"What? I don't."

Rory grinned in spite of herself.

And, the door opened.

"Hi," the brunette who answered the door smiled. "Wow, you both look happy."

"Your son was being rude," Rory explained.

"Oh, he's very good at that." Liz's eyes twinkled as she teased Jess. "Please, won't you come in?"

"Thank you," Rory said, entering the apartment and pulling Jess behind her. As he was passing Liz, she pulled him away from Rory into a hug.

"Mom," he complained, trying to get away. She squeezed one last time, and then planted a kiss directly in the middle of his forehead. He squirmed away and started down the hallway in the middle of the apartment. "I'm putting our bag in the room." He entered a room, wiping his forehead as the door shut behind him. Rory grinned at Liz.

"He's such a kid."

"And yet, so grown-up." Liz half-sighed and entered the kitchen, gesturing Rory to follow her. "Would you like something?"

"Um…my cravings are pretty full-force," Rory nodded. "I was thinking…a peanut butter, apple jelly and banana sandwich. On white bread."

Liz laughed. "I think I can handle that." She pulled the refrigerator open and pulled out apple jelly, and then started going through the cabinets for the other ingredients. Rory settled herself onto a chair at the table.

"Um, can I ask you a question?"

"Yes, of course," the older woman nodded, starting to fix the sandwich.

"Oh, wait, can you mix up the peanut butter and jelly?"

Liz paused, and then nodded. As she pulled out a small bowl, she said, "Shoot."

"Okay. I've been working up the nerve to do something…pretty big in a few months. But in order for it to work, I need your help."

"I'd agree right now, but I know not to do that before knowing what I'm agreeing to."

"Right. Um, I just need to know your mom's name. I'd ask Luke, but my mom would wrench out of him the fact I asked, and that would ruin the surprise."

"Okay." Liz nodded, slowly spreading the peanut butter and jelly mixture onto one side of the bread. "I shouldn't ask what the surprise is, should I?"

Rory shook her head. "You'll know soon enough."

"Okay. My mother's name was Amelia."

"Oh, good! It's pretty."

"I know." Liz leaned closer to Rory. "And I would be honored if you named your child after my mother."

Rory smiled. Liz handed her the finished sandwich, and they both looked up as Jess burst into the kitchen.

"You guys need to tell a person before you leave a room. I've been looking for you for five minutes!"

"It's been two," Rory responded through a mouthful of sandwich.

"And the apartment's about six rooms big," Liz said, starting to wash the dishes she'd dirtied.

Jess rolled his eyes. "Semantics." He settled into a chair next to Rory. "Can I have a sandwich, too?"

"Make it yourself." Liz nodded at the bread, sitting on the counter.

"Why does  _she_  get the royal treatment?"

"I'm pregnant, idiot."

"Details, details." Jess rolled his eyes and started making his sandwich. Liz and Rory shared a secret smile behind his back.

* * *

"Bye, Liz." Rory hugged the older woman, and then Jess pulled her arm  _again_.

"Come on, we've gotta go."

Rory pulled apart from Liz and rolled her eyes at Jess. Liz grinned and grabbed Jess.

"Mom! Come on, it's your fifteenth hug!"

"It is not." Liz started kissing Jess' forehead furiously. "It's only about the sixth."

"Mom, we're gonna be late."

"Okay." Liz released Jess and sighed. "Call me when you get there."

"Of course." Jess started backing up, pulling Rory with him to the minivan.

"And don't let Jimmy hog you too much, Rory. I wanna know the second you have that baby."

Rory smiled. "Of course."

"Okay, we're seriously going to be late. Bye, Mom, love ya, call ya soon." Jess pulled Rory into the van and slid the door shut. Dave, sitting in the driver's seat, glanced back and grinned.

"Jess has got a weakness," Lane sing-songed, sitting next to Dave.

"Shut up."

"Ooh, are you blushing?" Baylor asked from the backseat, pointing. Jess glared at her.

"No." He turned to Dave. "For the love of God, drive."

"Oh, yeah. Gotta get going so you can call your mom." Dave put the car in gear and they eased from the curb.

Rory smiled at the glare on Jess' face. "It's okay, they're only teasing."

"Yes, it's so nice when a rebel loves his mom," Paris piped up.

Jess glowered and lowered in his seat, his arms crossed over his chest. Rory smiled at him and planted a kiss on his forehead.

* * *

"I don't want a minivan, I don't care what you say." Jess shook his head emphatically.

"Well, if not a minivan, a midsize sedan car…thing. I don't know, just something more baby-friendly than your '67 convertible," Rory gestured at the car they were standing in front of. Jess got a wounded look on his face and placed a protective hand on the car.

"Don't be mean to Evelyn."

Rory stifled an urge to roll her eyes. "I'm sorry. You can keep Evelyn, but we still need another car for the baby."

"Okay, fine. We'll get another car, a family car, and Evelyn'll just be mine."

"A compromise."

"Exactly."

"Good." Rory smiled, and they sealed the deal with a kiss. "Now," Rory said as they parted, "let's go see the house."

"Paris, Lane, Dave, Baylor and I have been working non-stop to get it all nice and fixed for you."

"Aw, nice!"

"Right, hormone lady."

"Don't make me smack you."

"I'm sorry, ultra-hormone lady."

Rory rolled her eyes.

"C'mon." Jess ignored the eye-roll and pulled her towards the house by her hand. "Close your eyes," he commanded as they stopped in front of the door.

She giggled and obliged. He walked behind her and placed one hand over her eyes, and used his other hand to open the door.

"Can I see now?" she asked as the door closed behind them.

"No. We're going upstairs."

"Blinded like this?"

"You're not blind. Come on, step." He slowly led her up the stairs and to a closed door. He lowered his hand and said, "You can open your eyes now."

She obliged. "It's a door," she said flatly.

"Open it," he said matter-of-factly. She pasted another grin on her face and slowly pushed the door open to reveal…a nursery.

Painted in soft pastels, there was a crib in one corner, a changing table under the large window in the center of the far wall, and a rocking chair in the other corner. Diapers were stacked next to the changing table and baby toys were strewn across the floor. The closet stood open and was filled with light-colored onesies. A white wicker dresser was to the left of the door. Rory gasped and spun around to give a hug to Jess.

"It's wonderful," she said over his shoulder.

"I thought you might think so," he smiled, returning the hug.

* * *

Sometime near the middle of January, Rory sat at her desk in the study she and Jess shared. She was going over the pages of the script he'd left for her that morning. He'd started leaving the script for her to go over when she'd picked up a scene he'd been having trouble with and finished it in half an hour. They'd come to a silent understanding that she was going to be credited as co-writer in the credits, fixing little snafus in the story while he was off directing other scenes.

Besides, at eight and a half months pregnant, Rory was practically a whale, and couldn't do much more than sit around all day and read.

The cordless phone, sitting next to her computer, rang, startling her. She answered quickly.

"Hello?"

"It's me. The lead's putting me through hell, so I'm thinking about calling for an hour break and coming home for lunch. Whaddya think?"

She smiled into the phone. "That sounds great. Want me to order something?"

"Nah, I'll pick something up on the way there."

"Okay. I love you."

"I love you, too. See you soon."

"Bye." Rory hung up the phone and slowly pushed herself from the desk. She was going to head downstairs and put the phone up, and then settle onto the couch until Jess got home.

As she was nearing the last step, however, something warm and wet trickled down her legs.

"Oh, crap," she groaned, glancing down.


	9. Amy

"Just my luck," Rory muttered, glancing at the dark puddle slowly spreading underneath her feet. "My water breaks on the damn carpet." Rory placed her hands on the small of her back and steered herself over to the couch. Bracing her hands on either side of her, she slowly lowered herself down.

"Okay, what's next? Breathing, gotta start the breathing." Lamaze training kicking in, she rubbed her hands in a circle on her stomach and started breathing in rhythm. "Heeheehoo, heeheehoo, heeheehoo, this-is-stoo…pid." Rory finished out of rhythm and sighed.

"Mom always said that Lamaze crap was a bunch of hooey. Now what?"

"Ror?" Jess edged the door open and walked into the house, carrying Chinese take-out and saving Rory from making a decision.

"Hey," she smiled as he came into view and kissed her.

"You have a good morning?" he asked, walking into the kitchen.

"Relatively uneventful," she said after a pause and glance at the puddle of amniotic fluid ten feet away from her.

"You finish the scene?"

"And I wrote a few more. The Katelyn character needed a little more fleshing out."

"I've been trying to get that to work for a while."

"I think I did."

"Thanks." Jess walked back to the couch, carrying two plates. "Eating out here?"

"I don't feel like moving."

"Okay." Jess set the plates on the coffee table and walked to the television set. "Wanna watch a movie?"

"No, thanks."

"Whaddya feel like doing?"

"Going to the hospital," Rory answered after a second.

Jess started to nod, and then paused and stared at her. "Ror?"

"My water broke," Rory gestured to the puddle.

"Oh, God, Rory, why didn't you tell me?" He rushed over to her side and helped her to stand.

"It's not that big a deal," she shrugged.

He picked up her suitcase from next to the door and slung it over his shoulder. "The hormones have made you insane," he speculated as he locked their door behind them.

"I resent that," she said as he bustled her down the walkway to the car.

"You made small talk for two minutes!"

"I haven't had any contractions."

"You can have contractions and not know it; they're just not severe yet."

"Right, so obviously, the kid's not ready to come. We've got time."

"We still need to get to the hospital." He folded her into the passenger seat of the convertible and ran around to the other side.

"Where's the cell phone?" she asked as he turned the car on.

"Shit!" He jumped out of his seat, leaving his door open and the engine idling. He spent a minute and a half trying to open the locked front door before running back for his keys. She held them out for him; he smiled in thanks and jogged back to the house. He was back a minute later, and he slid in and threw her the phone before she pointed out that the front door was open. He used another expletive and disappeared again.

As he slid into the car for the third time, she borrowed his trademark smirk and murmured, "And  _I'm_ insane?" She chuckled. He glared and eased the car out of the driveway.

* * *

Lorelai was stretched out on her couch, reading a magazine. Sounds of clanking pots and pans were coming from her kitchen, driving her insane.

"Ah! Damn it!" Luke yelled.

"What happened?" Lorelai put her magazine to the side and sat up. "Can I come in there?"

"No."

"Luke," Lorelai sighed, exasperated. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Luke's voice was firm.

"Are you bleeding?"

"I'm  _fine_!"

The phone started ringing, and Lorelai glanced around for it. "Luke, I think it's in the kitchen."

"I'll answer it," he yelled.

She sighed again. "You're such a baby."

"I'll answer it! Hello?"

Lorelai rolled her eyes and stretched back out. Luke had come over that afternoon and announced he was cooking dinner for her. That had been an hour ago, and still it didn't seem any actual cooking had been done.

"Lorelai! Get in here!"

Luke sounded so frantic that she leapt from the couch and ran to the kitchen. Luke threw the phone at her and pushed her back towards the living room. She rolled her eyes.

"Hello?"

"Mom."

"Rory! Is it time?"

"It's time."

"Yes!" Lorelai squealed. "We're calling the airline right now and catching the next flight out there," she informed her daughter.

"I wouldn't expect any less."

"Any pain?"

"Only to Jess, if he doesn't stop bugging me."

Lorelai grinned. "That sounds about right. Don't let that baby come out till I get there!"

"I'll see what I can do."

"Good. I love you, sweetie."

"Love you too, Mom."

"Bye." Lorelai turned the phone off and threw it towards the couch, and then ran into the kitchen. "My baby's having a baby!" she screamed as she threw her arms around Luke's neck.

"Now?" he asked, shocked.

"Yep! Oh, I never thought this day would come!" She squeezed his neck.

"Lorelai, shouldn't you get tickets?"

"Oh! Right!" She let him go and ran back into the living room for the phone.

* * *

Jess helped Rory from the car. As she stood, he slipped one arm around her waist. She allowed herself to be led inside, settling her head on Jess' shoulder. She was very tired, and silently cursing herself for not getting enough sleep the night before.

"Excuse me, she's in labor," Jess announced to the woman at the desk in the waiting room.

"Have you called her doctor yet?"

"Yeah, he said he was here."

"What's his name? I'll page him." The woman lifted her phone to page the doctor, but he appeared behind her.

"Ah, Rory! Any contractions yet?" Dr. Murphey offered a wheelchair to Rory, who happily settled in.

"Nothing severe. At the most, I've felt like I was being pinched from inside."

"Completely normal," the doctor nodded. "Well, let's get you settled in, and see how dilated you are. How much was it at the last visit?"

"Three centimeters."

"We'll see what you're at now, and then go from there."

"Okay."

Dr. Murphey nodded and wheeled Rory down the hallway to a labor room. Jess followed at a distance, still calling people on the cell phone.

* * *

"Where is she? Where's my baby?" Almost eight hours later, edging on nine o'clock, Lorelai raced into the hospital waiting room in California, Luke at her heels.

"Slow down," Luke commanded, taking both her arms in his and pulling her toward him. "She just said she's not that far along."

Lorelai struggled against the warm embrace of her boyfriend's body, and as Lane walked towards them, he allowed her to spring towards the younger woman.

"Lane! Where is she?"

"Whoa! Hello, Lorelai, it's nice to see you too."

"Yeah, enough with the crap formalities. Where's my baby?"

Lane rolled her eyes at Luke, who nodded. When Lorelai shot them both a look, Lane cleared her throat. "She's in Labor and Delivery Room two; and just under eight centimeters dilated. The contractions are fierce, but fortunately, Jess and Dave both have strong hands."

"Jess  _and_ Dave?" Lorelai asked. Lane nodded.

"Paris, Baylor and I have been taking turns nursing their hands back to their normal strength; Rory's pretty much decided that men are the weaker sex."

"Well, duh," Lorelai said. Luke gave her a look that plainly said, "and who fixed the heater this morning?" Lorelai blushed. Lane smiled and started to walk away.

"Follow me," she commanded over her shoulder, waving them behind her. Lorelai and Luke did as they were told and quickly ran after her.

* * *

"Coffee," Jess moaned, stumbling out of Rory's room into the hallway. Luke wordlessly handed him a cup, and Jess fell into the chair next to his uncle's.

"Lorelai still in there?" Luke asked. Jess, too tired for sarcasm, nodded.

"Did the other four leave?"

"It's almost midnight."

"I know," Jess groaned. "I've got to get up at the ass-crack of dawn, too."

"Cost a lot of money to go overtime?"

Jess nodded. "A hell of a lot. The studio's okay with us, though, cause we're still way under budget for how far along we are."

"You'll just have to take a break for a few days."

"Yeah." Jess groaned again as another thought hit him. "Oh, God, my head writer's gonna be out of commission. Dammit, I wasn't counting on that for another two weeks."

"Babies can't be planned."

"I know."

Luke smiled. "You know, I remember when you were born. Jimmy was off God knows where, and Liz started having contractions and freaked out and called me. She was so scared, too; you were a week early."

Luke looked at his nephew to see if he was listening, and Jess nodded, his head resting on the wall behind him and his eyes closed. "I'm listening."

"I told her to get to the hospital as soon as she could, and she did. She left the apartment so quickly she forgot to hang up the phone." Luke chuckled. "Anyway, Dad and I closed the store and jumped in the truck to head to New York. Later we found out that we were in such a hurry we forgot to lock the store and turn the lights out. But when we got to the hospital, Jimmy was there, being the dutiful husband. Dad and I just paced in the waiting room for a while, kinda like this. And then…you were born. You looked like crap warmed over. After they cleaned you off, you still looked like crap."

Jess half-smiled through his exhaustion.

"You fit into my dad's arms like you were meant to be there, though. I'll never forget that image of my father." Luke sighed and sank into silence, and then glanced next to him. Jess was breathing slowly and evenly, sleeping. Luke half-smiled.

* * *

"I'm so tired," Rory cried. "Why aren't you coming out?" she screamed through the contraction.

"It's okay, sweetie. Just breathe."

"Breathing is crap!"

"Or scream. Screaming's okay, too." Lorelai wiped Rory's hair from her forehead with her free hand; her other hand was locked in Rory's death grip. Rory screamed through the rest of the contraction, and then curled up onto her mother's arm when the pain subsided.

"How far are we now?" Dr. Murphey asked, swinging into the room.

"Well, I'm not sure about  _you_ , but I hope  _I'm_  at ten centimeters." After eighteen hours of labor, Rory was ready to get the whole thing over with.

"Right. Let's check." The doctor sat in front of Rory's bed and checked; as he stood up, Rory grinned. "Yep. We're at ten." Dr. Murphey smiled at Rory. "Time for the hard part."

"Yes! Mom, get Jess."

"Yes, ma'am." Lorelai kissed her daughter on the forehead and walked out of the room. She came back a few seconds later leading an extremely scared-looking Jess.

"Well, this is the end of the line for you, Mrs. Gilmore. From now on, it's all Rory." Dr. Murphey started rolling Rory's bed; Jess grabbed her hand and ran with the bed as it was wheeled for the elevator.

"Bye, Mom! I love you!"

"Love you too, sweets."

Luke stood and placed both his hands on Lorelai's shoulders as the elevator doors closed. She lifted her hands and covered his, and he kissed her on the top of her head.

"My baby," she murmured.

* * *

"My baby," Rory murmured, kissing her brand-new daughter on top of her head. The infant's bright blue eyes gazed up at her mother, and she stretched her balled-up fists and yawned. Then a flash went off in her eyes, and she closed them quickly and snuggled into her mother. "Mom!" Rory complained.

"I'm sorry, sweetie." Lorelai, sitting in a chair off to the side of the bed, looked sheepishly at her camera. "She's just so cute."

Luke reached from his chair next to Lorelai's and took her camera. "Problem solved," he announced.

Jess, sitting on the bed, shook his head. "You're just as bad as she is."

Luke glared as Jess grinned.

"Hello, people! Name?" Rory said, annoyed. "You're in here for the announcement."

"Tell us! Tellustellustellustellus!" Lorelai bounced in her chair.

"Okay! But I also have to explain. Over the past year, I've come to realize the incredibly wonderful need for family. And so I decided that when I gave birth to my little one, I'd use a name with family ties."

"I  _loved_  that show," Lorelai interjected. Rory glared. "Okay, sorry. Continue."

"Thank you. Anyway, I thought about the name for a long time, and I've decided that the best name for my daughter is Amelia Lorelai Mariano, Amy for short."

All of the other three adults in the room were a little surprised at the selection; especially Luke and Jess.

"Amelia, after her grandfather's mother," Rory nodded to Luke, who tried to discreetly wipe away tears at the thought of his mother. "Lorelai, after her mother's mother," Rory nodded to her mother, who smiled. "And Mariano, after her father—legally. That is, if he'll have me."

Jess stared, shocked, at Rory.

"Whaddya say, Jess? Will you marry me?"

Jess continued staring at Rory, and then at little Amelia Lorelai Mariano. "Little Amy Mariano…do you want me to be your daddy?"

Amy reached a hand and grabbed Jess' outstretched finger. She gurgled and waved it around. Jess laughed.

"Yes, Rory. I will marry you."

"Good," Rory smiled. "Now you have to kiss me."

"What a horrible punishment." Jess leaned in and they kissed, sweetly, before Amy knocked Jess' finger into his head.


	10. Home Movies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this includes that "major character death" I was talking about

**Home Movies**

January 13, 2008

 _A black screen_.

"Jess! I said I didn't want any pictures taken!"

Jess removed the lens cap to his brand-new video camera and zoomed into Rory's face. "It's not pictures. It's video."

Rory rolled her eyes and shielded the breast-feeding, one-day-old Amy from the watchful eye of the camera. "I would think that a big-time movie director would know that video is moving pictures."

"And talking, too."

"Jess! Seriously! I look like crap."

"Yeah, you do," Jess agreed, walking around Rory's bed to get her from different angles.

"Jess!"

In a moment of weakness, Jess edged within arm's length of Rory, and she reached out.

_Static._

July 27, 2008

_Lorelai Gilmore's backyard, Stars Hollow, Connecticut._

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today…." The priest continued talking, but was blocked out by Lorelai's voice, as she leaned over to Luke.

"You didn't get her walking up the aisle."

"Lorelai," Luke sighed.

"Don't 'Lorelai' me!" She imitated his sigh perfectly. "You didn't get her walking up the aisle. With Amy! It was so cute!"

"The photographer got some pictures."

"It's not the same as video."

"Well, I'm sorry, there's nothing we can do now."

"Yes, there is, I can hurt you."

"And then who would film the ceremony?"

"I would."

"Without a knowledge of where the power button is?" Luke raised his eyebrows. "I've seen your pictures, and I think Rory would appreciate if I filmed it."

Lorelai sank into stubborn silence and the ceremony could be heard again.

"With this ring, I thee wed." Rory slipped the finger on Jess' finger, and they faced the priest again.

"With the power vested in me by God, the state of Connecticut, and the consent of these two people, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Jess lifted Rory's veil and they kissed, causing Amy to shriek in Lane's arms. The congregation laughed, and Rory and Jess separated, grinning. Rory lifted Amy from Lane's arms and slipped one arm through Jess'. He led her back down the aisle, amid applause.

"My daughter's married before me!" Lorelai suddenly wailed, throwing her head onto Luke's shoulder. Her sudden weight caused him to jostle the camera, and when the impact of her words hit him, he dropped it completely.

_Static._

March 16, 2009

_The Mariano home, California._

Rory walked into view of the camera, fastening an earring and glancing at the back of her long black dress. "Do I have peanut butter on me? Amy just hugged me goodbye."

"Spin for me," Jess' voice, behind the camera, commanded. Rory obliged, and then stood still.

"Is that on?" she asked suspiciously.

"Uh, no."

"Yes it is. Jess!"

"What? It's our first world-wide premiere."

"The first one together." Rory grinned. "So, any peanut butter?"

"No."

"Good." Rory walked back into her room.

_Black._

December 7, 2010

_Dragonfly Inn ballroom._

"Ahh!" Rory screamed and ran toward her mother. "You're married!"

"I know!" The two women jumped through their hug. Two-and-a-half-year-old Amy wandered towards her father, in the sight of the camera.

"Mommy and Gwandma are  _cwazzy_." The sentence was her first full one, and she got plenty of use out of it.

Luke, sitting nearby, pulled Amy into his lap. "I agree."

Amy nodded solemnly and turned back to watch her mother. Jess changed his spot of focus from Rory and Lorelai to Baylor and Paris, sitting at the table next to Luke and playing with one-year-old Justin.

"How's my big boy doing?" Jess asked in his proud-dad voice.

"Jess, you're the most annoying person  _ever_  when it comes to children," Baylor announced, before sticking her tongue out at him.

"Wait till your sucker pops out; you'll feel the same way."

"Hey!" Paris placed a hand on Baylor's almost noticeably pregnant stomach. "Don't call our baby a sucker!"

"You tell him, sweetie!" Baylor nodded.

Jess responded by walking away from the table and towards Lane and Dave, taking a break from playing in the band. Amy raced over after him and threw her arms around Lane's knees. Lane laughed and lowered an arm to Amy's back.

"Hey, girl. You having fun?"

"Dwums!" Amy held out her hands greedily for Lane's drumsticks; Lane handed them over and sat Amy at the drums. Dave walked to the microphone and said, "Ladies and gentleman, little Amy Mariano, granddaughter of the newlyweds, would like to play a little selection for you."

Lane released Amy's arms and she pounded on the drums and the cymbals, beating out an agonizingly loud incomprehensible rhythm. After a second Lane grabbed Amy's arms again, and lowered her from the drums.

"Give it up for Amy Mariano, everybody!"

The crowd clapped, and then the band settled back into their spots and started playing again. Amy moved from the stage to right in front of it, dancing her little self all around. Rory snuck up behind Jess.

"She gets her musical ability from you."

"No, she gets her musical ability from  _you_. You've heard yourself sing, right?"

The camera was jostled slightly as Rory hit Jess. He laughed, and then let his hand holding the camera drop as he kissed Rory.

_Black._

March 23, 2012

_The Kodak Auditorium, Los Angeles. 84th annual Academy Awards._

"And the nominees for best original screenplay are— _Worlds, Universes, Love_ , Tiffany Bold and Harvey Johnson;  _What Sam Says_ , Rory Gilmore-Mariano;  _Introduction_ , Ethan Hawke;  _Family Is Like Chocolate_ , Zoe Mittner;  _The Bus_ , David Scheoutfski."

The large crowd applauded as the aging, once-gorgeous, washed-up movie actor picked up the envelope and put his figure under the seal. "And the winner is." He added the period, pretending that the sentence stopped after the preposition. He'd never been the best speaker.

The seal was broken and all six nominees held their breath and the hands of the people closest to them.

" _What Sam Says_ , Rory Gilmore-Mariano!" The actor, knowing Rory personally, started clapping before he'd finished saying her name. The entire crowd picked up on his enthusiasm and cheered as the large monitors showed Rory sitting in her seat, shocked, her hands over her mouth. She slowly got to her feet and hugged her mother next to her, and then walked into the aisle to hug her husband. She squeezed him for reassurance before finally making her way up the stairs to the stage. A gorgeous woman in black handed Rory her Oscar, and Rory hugged the aging actor before standing at the podium, clutching the golden statuette in her hand.

"Oh, my God. This has got to be the best news I've ever heard. God, I thought just being  _nominated_ was a big deal."

The crowd tittered.

"Oh, really, I've got a thousand people to thank. First and foremost I want to thank my mother, Lorelai Gilmore, who has been through  _everything_ with me, and I want to thank Luke, and my husband Jess—good luck—and my daughter Amy and my sons Justin and Will, without whom I'd just feel lost every single day, and I want to thank the studio for allowing us to make this movie, the producers for allowing me to have almost final say on everything, and Baylor Clarke for playing the lead. This movie is very close to my heart, and I'm just so thrilled with how it came out. Oh, I wanna thank Lane, Dave, Kurt, Paris, and Kaitlyn, and above all, I want to thank Mark Miller and Tristan DuGrey from the bottom of my heart. Without you two, I wouldn't be where I am today. Thank you."

The music began playing, and Rory bounced off the stage after Tom Cruise. The announcer announced the next presenter, and the tape skipped.

"The directors are the ones who drive us crazy with demands, idiotic ideas, and ways to make our characters worse, it seems." The young actress smiled at her husband.

"Still, they do manage to help the productions move along with a semblance of smooth, at least, and sometimes, they even manage to make the entire thing work out."

"And when they're married to the writer, they know exactly where everything's going, and what's supposed to be happening." The actress left the script behind, and her husband stared at her, in the scripted joke.

"Hey, why'd you go off-script?"

"I thought it was funny, so I said it." She shrugged.

"Yeah, well, it wasn't."

"Oh, you're just mad cause I make more than you do."

"No, not at all. I'm just mad you cut my spending money."

The couple grinned at the audience's laughter. The actress leaned forward. "And the nominees for best direction are—James Cameron, _Ashley_ ; Dana Harold _, The Way_ ; Jess Mariano,  _What Sam Says_ ; Jane SanMillan,  _Family Is Like Chocolate_ ; Walter Wallmarak,  _Shrew_."

"My turn now, right?" The actor asked, about to open the envelope.

"You open it, I announce."

"Why don't we both announce it?"

"Okay. And the winner is—"

The actor slit the seal and opened the envelope; the actress squealed.

"Jess Mariano,  _What Sam Says_!" The couple yelled together. Jess stood up automatically, shocked, and then sank back down. Rory pulled him up, laughing, her Oscar still in her hand, and pushed him into the aisle. He hugged her quickly, and then stalked up to the stage. The actress gave him a huge hug, and the actor shook his hand. He was handed his Oscar and edged to the microphone, shaking his head.

"Wow. Wasn't expecting this. Usually after they make fun of you, they don't give you the award. But…wow. I guess that good luck Rory gave me worked. Uh…thanks. To the academy, Luke, Lorelai, Liz, Jimmy, Baylor, my wonderful family—Rory, Amy, Justin, Will, I love you all. Thanks to the producers, the studio, Rory once again for writing the best script I've had the chance to direct, the cast for being one of the best I've worked with—even including Ryan back there, believe it or not—and…I think that's about it." Jess started to leave, but then ducked back down to the microphone. "Oh, and thanks to Miller and DuGrey, for returning my wife and keeping the family in one piece, and for the best family story anyone can tell. Thanks." Jess waved his statue and followed Blake and her husband backstage. Rory, sitting in her seat, covered her hands in shock again, although this time one hand was clutching her award.

August 14, 2018

_The Mariano home. Stars Hollow, Connecticut._

"All three of my babies are in school!" Rory cried from behind the camera. Amy, Justin, and Jess glared at her; William grinned.

"Stop glaring, you three! It's a happy day!"

"Mom, it's  _school_ ," Amy pointed out. "I hate school."

"I thought you loved school?"

"That was you, Ror," Jess pointed out.

"I don't want to be in second grade," Justin complained.

"I'm in kindergarten!" William yelled. "I'm a big boy!"

"Yes, you are, sweetie! You're a big, big, boy!" Rory cooed.

"Rory, don't baby him."

"He's my baby; I'm gonna baby him."

There was a knock on the door, ceasing any other arguing. Paris and Baylor pulled their daughter Kaitlyn behind them, followed closely by Lane and Dave's son Kurt. Kurt ran to William's side, as they were going into school together; Kaitlyn wandered over near Amy, the only other girl in the group and three years her senior.

"Thanks so much for taking them to school, Rory," Paris said. She sounded exhausted. Baylor ran a hand across her back and nodded to Rory.

"I'll drive with you, if you want me to. Paris has got to get to work."

"Has keeping Kurt with you guys been working out better?" Jess asked.

Kurt yelled, "No! I wanna stay with Will!"

"What do you think?" Paris asked dryly. Jess nodded.

"Just as I thought."

"Well, I gotta go. Bye, Kaitlyn," Paris said, kissing her daughter on the forehead. "Bye, everybody!"

"Bye, Paris!" Everyone waved and Paris left.

"Actually, Ror, I gotta go too. First class is in an hour and a half."

"Okay." Rory handed the camera to Baylor and kissed Jess goodbye. "Have fun teaching those Yalies about film."

"Oh, it's always a blast." Jess echoed Paris' dry tone from earlier before kissing each of his children goodbye and leaving.

"When are Lane and Dave getting off tour?" Baylor asked Rory from behind the camera.

"Another six months." Rory sighed as Kurt and Will started play-fighting. Justin eventually joined in, and the two girls just rolled their eyes. "What a family," Rory commented.

_Black._

May 1, 2020

_The Danes kitchen._

The camera focused on Rory's former bedroom door as Jess' voice drifted in from the kitchen.

"Where's Lorelai?"

"Upstairs," Luke answered. Amy silently walked forward, hoping the camera would focus on her fatherly figures. It did.

"She's cleaning," Luke continued. He lowered his voice. "I don't think it's fully hit her yet."

"It hasn't fully hit me yet." Jess shook his head and leaned his elbows on the table. "It's a shock, even after a year and a half."

"No matter how long they're sick, it's always a shock." Luke took a swig of his beer, and then frowned at the green glass bottle. "It's always a shock," he whispered, remembering his parents, and then his sister. Jess nodded. He crossed his arms and laid them on the table, and then laid his head on his arms.

"I just wish the tears would come," he whispered. "I feel so guilty."

Amy, standing behind the camera, stiffened. She hadn't cried yet, either. She felt horrible, especially when she saw her brothers, and how sad they were.

"You guys gonna stay here tonight again?" Luke asked softly.

"Probably," Jess said into his arms. " I can't handle being reminded of her right now, and I can't handle knowing that the house is free of her."

Luke reached out and patted Jess' shoulder reassuringly. Amy lowered the camera.

_Black._


	11. Life to the Fullest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Amy's POV

The house is dark. Quiet. If I strain I can hear the soft breathing of the three men in the house, along with the dripping upstairs faucet that has been neglected for years.

But I don't want to strain.

I slip from my childhood room; the last one I had, anyway. The one I returned to for a few days after high school graduation…the one where I lost my virginity…the one where I lost my innocence.

Not in that order, of course.

I lost my innocence long before I ever lost my virginity.

My first sexual partner was a worried teenage boy who adored me…after three years of cynically ignoring him, I assented to a date. We had sex within three weeks, and then I never talked to him again. He became the big man on campus, and I stayed lost in the background, drowning in my loneliness and sorrow.

I was lonely in a house of four.

I was lonely in a family of six.

I was lonely in an extended family of twelve.

It's tough, not being related to your father…being only half related to your brothers. Only knowing one grandmother, one grandfather…and the grandfather I know isn't even biological.

The story of my conception is outlandish…soap-opera like…it's amazing to me that I'm even alive. If it weren't for my mother's shitty college boyfriend, I wouldn't be.

My mother was artificially inseminated.

This caused a lot of trouble during a two-year-period of my life, one I like to call "The Reign Of Terror". (Apparently, tenth grade history got to me.)

The Christmas when I was ten, my mother decided I should meet her father, Chris. Chris had just called her after ten years and informed her that his other daughter was sick with breast cancer, and would she come say goodbye before G.G. died?

My mother said that she would, and decided to bring me along, to meet her father. My mother left the rest of my family behind, and only told my aunt Lane where we were going, leaving everyone else in the dark.

I met my biological maternal grandfather at the age of ten and seven/eighths, December 26, 2018. He was mean to my mother when he realized who I was, and they had a fight. A loud one. It wasn't until almost a year and a half later when I realized what it was about. It was about me, and about how my mother had been artificially inseminated.

My grandfather threw us out.

My mother cried on the drive home. It was dark out, and raining, and she was having trouble driving. I was drifting into sleep, because the drive was a very long one. Less than five minutes from our house, my mother asked me for a tissue. Unfortunately, I was asleep, so she leaned over me and opened the glove compartment, keeping one eye on the road. The tissues weren't coming from their bag, however, and so she took her eyes from the road for one second.

Car, of course. How else would this story end?

My mother swerved as the car came towards us.

A tree jumped out as us.

Car crash sound effects.

Shot of both of us unconscious.

Fade to black.

As you can see, my director father, along with my love of directing, has caused my story-telling skills to have a movie-like quality.

It only works sometimes.

My father freaked. He left my little brothers with my grandparents and rushed to the hospital. My mother was okay…nothing serious. They were checking her out, making sure she didn't have any internal bleeding. I, on the other hand, was bleeding out.

When I'd fallen asleep, I'd slipped from my seatbelt, the petite little girl that I was. When the car hit the tree, I was flung forward into the dashboard, resulting in massive internal bleeding, along with a large cut on my forehead, from the windshield.

They wouldn't let my father back to see me. He ran to my mother's bedside immediately.

"Rory, they won't let me see Amy," he said quickly, urgently, breathing hard from all the yelling he'd just done.

"She's in surgery, isn't she?" my mother asked.

"They said, 'immediate family only'."

"You're family," my mother pointed out. "He's family," she told the nurse running her ultrasound.

"No, Ror, I'm not." He sighed. "I haven't adopted her yet. I'm still not legal."

"I  _knew_  procrastination was stupid." She sighed. "Oh, I bet Amy's so alone right now. Call my mother," she commanded my father. "So that Amy'll have someone with her."

"What about  _me_?"

"There's nothing we can do about it right now, Jess."

"I know," he sighed, resigned. "I'll go call Lorelai."

"Thank you." My mother kissed my father, and he walked off. The nurse doing my mother's ultrasound stared at something on the screen, and then rushed off to find a superior.

I was fine, eventually. I only spent a day in the Pediatric ICU, resting up from surgery, and then spent a normal week in a hospital room with my mother. My internal bleeding stopped itself, and now I lead a relatively normal life. I just never had to participate in P.E. again, much to my delight.

My mother, on the other hand. God. Mom. I still miss her like hell.

The nurse found signs of ovarian cancer in the ultrasound…it was just a hunch, so he found his superior. The doctor immediately ordered tests, and they came back the next day.

It was true.

My mother was diagnosed with stage IV ovarian cancer on December 27, 2018…the day after she'd been scheduled to see her half-sister, who was slowly dying of breast cancer.

After the doctor explained the symptoms, my mother realized that she'd had many of them for a while…unexplained weight loss; nausea; abdominal swelling; fatigue; abnormal bleeding….

My mother started treatment the day after my eleventh birthday.

She was sick, on and off, for the next year and a half.

She missed my twelfth birthday; she spent the day curled up in bed.

She missed my sixth grade graduation by less than a month.

She died May 1, 2020.

Twenty years ago today.

She missed my graduation from college…the first graduation from college since my great-grandparents.

She missed both of my brother's graduations.

She never met the men my brothers grew up to be.

She never met me as a woman.

She never met Justin's wife.

She never met Will's live-in girlfriend.

She missed the huge fight her best friends Paris and Baylor got into when their daughter brought a man home.

She missed the huge fight her other best friends Dave and Lane got into when their son brought two women home.

She missed the day my father….

She's never met Meg.

That's one of the strangest things…my mother's never met the woman who replaced her in my father's life.

Oh, no, he didn't get remarried…he got another writer.

Trust me, it was a big deal.

You know…I'm getting married tomorrow.

Everyone told me it was strange, deciding to get married the day after the anniversary of my mother's death.

But…while I love my mother, and still miss her, I know that she wouldn't want me sad. The last thing she ever said to me was, "Don't ever cry about me, Amy. Don't mourn my death; celebrate my life. And always remember—live life to the fullest…you never know when it will change forever." She smiled. "Always smile…don't ever forget I love you. From the bottom of my heart." She kissed me, gently, on the cheek.

I'm celebrating my mother's life tomorrow. I refuse to cry. I will live my life to the fullest. I will dance my heart out at the wedding. I will dance with my father in the traditional father-daughter dance, and we will both imagine we are holding my mother.

And when that one tear slips down, like I know it will, I will smile. My mother is running her finger down my cheek, and whispering how proud she is of me.


End file.
